When I Fell Into A Fountain
by zeratheliger
Summary: I tripped into a magical fountain and somehow ended up in Yugioh. I have to find Yugi to gawk and chase- I mean meet him in person. There's no way I'm falling into Yugioh and not meeting Yugi, that would be counter productive. This is going to be fun. Not a self insert.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters**

**Summary: **I accidentally tripped into a magical fountain and somehow ended up in Yugioh. The one thing I want to do I is find Yugi and gawk at him- I mean, see him in person. There's no way I'm falling into Yugioh and not meeting Yugi, that would be counter productive. This is going to be so much fun. What should I do first? Wreak havoc on people? Give a giant headache to a few ancient spirits? Confuse the heck out of Joey? Or just plain piss off Kaiba?

**A/N: **This basically sticks to what happens in the show. Any duel scene that is written is a scene that doesn't actually happen in the real show. I'm re-starting this story, sorry to all the people that liked it before. I wasn't happy with it. The first chapter is slow, but the story picks up in a couple of chapters. I hope you guys like it and aren't bored with it.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The real fun starts now.

"I activate the magic card polymerization in order to fuse together my Summoned Skull and Red Eyes Black Dragon to create Black Skull Dragon. And thanks to my magic card, quick attack, B. Skull Dragon doesn't have to wait one turn to attack you. Which means sis, you lose the rest of your life points, making me the winner!"

I let out a melodramatic sigh, "Ah you beat me, again." I told my seven year old brother.

"Let's play again, Allie!" he exclaimed, gathering his deck and shuffling it.

I snorted, "I don't think so. It's time for you to go to bed." I really didn't want to play against Sam, he always won. And this time I really did try to beat him, but I just suck at dueling.

My name, in case you haven't figured it out, is Allie Grey. I was named after my mother's favorite restaurant- I know, it's not really that creative when you think about. Right now, it's a Friday night and instead of hanging out with my friends, I'm stuck at home babysitting Sam, while my parents are out watching an opera. I've just been playing three hours worth of duel monsters and I lost every single time.

I suck.

"Aw…just one more game? Please?" Sam puffed out his lower lip and gazed up at me with the puppy dog pout.

As much as I wanted to give in, if my mom found out I let Sam stay up past his bed time, I'd be grounded. "No." I told Sam.

"That's not fair!" he shouted, stomping up the stairs and into his room.

Life's not fair, I replied silently, mentally rolling my eyes. I walked back into the den and collected up all of the cards and placing them inside my pocket. Glancing at the clock I found that it was still fairly early in the night. Would it be irresponsible of me to leave the house with my kid brother fast asleep? I shrugged, it probably was, but I wanted a brownie and Sam at the last one. It'd only take me a couple of minutes- the store was on the other side of the park.

With my mind made up, I grabbed my grey jean parka and headed outside. It was pretty chilly, I noted, for a summer night. I quickly jogged through the crowded park, not stopping to watch the clown swallow a giant knife, or the street dancers who thought they were super cool- I was a little paranoid about leaving Sam all alone. I bought a box of brownies with the last of my allowance and walked back.

"Child," a deep voice called out.

I stopped and looked around before pointing at myself. The lady nodded and beckoned me with her index finger. I thought about it for a moment- I really needed to get home. Eh, I shrugged, it wouldn't hurt to see what she wanted. I inched over towards her, curious to see what her act was.

"The cards have something to tell you," she said in a thick accent.

Ah, she was a crystal ball act. Fortune tellers never amazed me. I can't believe people actually let someone else tell them what their future was going to be like.

"Pick a card." she said, spreading out a deck of tarot cards.

I chuckled, waving my hand, "Sorry, I don't have any money on me."

"Just a pick a card." she repeated.

I gave her a funny look, but then shrugged. I picked the card that seemed to be sticking out further than the rest of the cards. It was a picture of an angel with a trumpet and a bunch of naked people seemed to be worshipping her. On the bottom of the card read: Judgment.

Immediately the card was snatched from my hands, "Oh child," the woman said in a sympathetic tone, "You are about to be reborn and sent on a journey."

I rolled my eyes, "Okay. Thank you," - _crazy lady,_ I added silently. See, this is exactly why I don't believe the stuff fortune tellers have to say. Why should I let a card tell me my future? It makes no sense.

I continued on my way back, making a mental note not to ever do something like that again. To my annoyance, the stupid street dancers had moved directly in front of the path that went straight to my house. And I couldn't get past them- the crowd was too big. I glared at the dancers- now I would have to take a longer route home. Hmm…maybe I shouldn't have gone out. I chuckled, was this what the lady meant when she said I was about to go on a journey?

"Excuse me," I muttered, trying to push through the large crowd. One particularly mean person, would not move as I asked nicely and instead, when I tried to squeeze past him, pushed me backwards. A normal person would've have probably just fallen down, but I managed to trip over my own foot and before I knew it, I was falling…straight into the fountain.

It is official, I have the worst luck in the world.

The water was freezing as it touched my skin. I felt completely grossed out. Do you know how unsanitary this water is? Nobody cleans it, guys use it as their own personal toilet- eww, just eww. But stupid me accidentally inhaled a mouthful of the unsanitary water- I know, what kind of idiot am I? - and then I began to choke.

I didn't know this fountain was deep enough for someone to drown. The public safety committee should really do something about this. I could see it, the light was getting smaller and smaller with every second that passed. My one fear of drowning was actually coming true. My luck SUCKS!

_You are about to be reborn and sent on a journey…_

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Was this some sort of stupid joke? Am I being punished because I don't believe in fortune tellers?

Coming to my senses I used what little strength I had left and began to swim upwards towards the light.

Really, how deep was this stupid fountain? Because no matter how much I swam, I didn't seem to be getting any closer to reaching the surface. And wait a minute, shouldn't I be dead by now? Surely it's been over a minute- and I choked on toxic water.

And suddenly the absurdity of my situation hit me. Yes I know, I'm a slow thinker. It was impossible for the fountain to be this retardedly deep. Did I hit my head on the concrete? Knowing my luck, I did and am now just dreaming.

"**Allison Grey, it is time to initiate your ordeal**."

What the heck?

The water disappeared and I felt myself starting to fall. My second fear of dying is falling to my death. Is my luck really _that_ bad?

**x x x**

"WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I could hear myself screaming at the top of my lungs. I know this was a stupid dream, but even in dream world I didn't want to die. I desperately started to flap my arms up and down hoping that maybe I'd sprout wings and magically fly. Nope, I continued to fall through the darkness. This is exactly why I hate heights! I looked around wildly for any signs of something that could help me.

Nothing.

I felt myself speeding up, but dared not open my eyes. All I could do was brace myself for impact, but it never came. I slowly opened my eyes, unsure if I had died or not. When I opened my eyes my vision was hazy, but after a couple of blinks it became clear- no I wish it did, but I was still absolutely confused. Where the heck was I?

I wasn't in the park, that I was sure of.

"CAN YA GET OFF ME!"

I jumped to my feet and whipped around. My jaw hit the floor and my eyes became as round as saucers.

"Whoa!" the figure said "I ain't gonna hurt ya,"

Oh my god.

"Joey Wheeler," I said before I could stop myself.

Just how hard did I hit my head? This had to be a dream, the best dream ever. Somebody pinch me, err actually don't, I don't want to wake up.

He perked his head up at his name "Who wants to know?" he said in his brooklyn accent.

I let out a girlish shriek.

Joey clamped his hands over his ears "Would ya stop yapping!" he said.

I slapped my hands over my mouth, and silently gaped at the blonde.

"Sorry girl." Joey said, wiping his face "But if ya want a duel, it's gonna have to wait. I'm in a hurry."

I watched as he walked away, my mouth slightly ajar in awe. Dream or no dream, this was just way to cool. After a couple of minutes, I decided to follow him, because who wouldn't want to follow Joey Wheeler? He's my fourth favorite character, after the egyptian trio. As I started to run after him, a bright light appeared in front of me and temporarily blinded me.

That is so not fair.

When I opened my eyes again, a man dressed in white robes was hovering in front of me. Once again I felt my jaw drop and eyes widen.

Shadi.

"Er hi?" I squeaked.

He hovered for a few more seconds and then slowly came down until we stood face to face. His ice blue eyes seemed to stare right through me. I never thought Shadi to be intimidating, but I change my mind.

Finally the spirit spoke, "You are Allison Grey."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. I nodded my head.

"You have been brought here by the will of Slifer the Sky Dragon in order to prove yourself worthy of protecting the Pharaoh."

Eh?

"…"

Ha ha, funny. Wow I really went overboard on this dream. I guess that's what happens when I hit my head…hmm maybe I should hit my head more often then. I turned around and began to walk away. This was boring and I didn't want to talk to Shadi. My dream, my rules. Now where did Joey Wheeler run off to?

I looked back, Shadi had disappeared.

I looked ahead and promptly crashed into Shadi, only he's a spirit so I just walked right through him.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed, "Was that really necessary?" I glared at him.

"Do I have your attention now?" he replied back.

I huffed and folded my arms childishly, "Yes," I muttered, looking away. I really wanted to go and talk a little more with Joey Wheeler.

"Good…"

And I'm not really sure what Shadi said because I completely tuned out. I tend to do that when I get bored. Shadi was ruining my dream with his boring talking. He could tell me all the details later, after I had found Joey Wheeler and talked with him. I don't think I've ever had a dream like this one.

"Yeah, okay, I got it. Help Yami save the world. Yup." I said, saluting him, "Bye now."

This time, I ran off before I could give the ancient spirit a chance to poof right in front of me. I emerged from the alley out onto a busy street of, what I guess, Domino City. Wow this place is cool. Hmm…what were the chances of running into the rest of the gang? Well since it was my dream, I'd say pretty high.

I began to skip down the street, not really knowing where I was going. I made a hard right, around a corner, and crashed into something solid. At first I thought I had run into Shadi again, but then I remembered he didn't have a solid body. I groaned, it felt as though I had smashed into a brick wall. I didn't know you could feel pain in a dream. I glanced up, "Sorry," I gave the man a weak grin.

He looked down at me and then grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off towards god knows where. Suddenly this dream wasn't so fun anymore.

"Let go of me you overgrown gorilla!" I yelled, twisting and squirming. I raked my sharp nails against his skin, but he didn't even flinch. I looked around wildly for help, but no one seemed to notice the fact that a little girl was being dragged into an alley by a creepy man.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!"

Yes! Somebody to my rescue.

I looked up to see…Joey Wheeler, surrounded by a group of guys in capes. It hit me- they were rare hunters. I looked at the man who was still holding onto me, how could I not have seen it? It was a rare hunter too. If I remember correctly, Joey is forced to duel a rare hunter, where he then loses and is beaten to a pulp.

Maybe this isn't a dream after all.

_You're right, this indeed, is not a dream, Allison Grey_.

I stopped trying to free myself. Shadi? I mentally asked, but there was no reply. I guess this is what I get for not listening to the spirit.

"Now see here Mr. Wheeler." the rare hunter who was holding me captive said, an evil grin etched on his face "You can walk away, but if you do something _terrible_ might happen to this girl. You wouldn't want that now, would you?" the rare hunter's friends all snickered.

"Who do you think you are!" I hissed, glaring at him through my hazel orbs.

"Silence girl." snapped the rare hunter.

"Alright pal let's get this over with." Joey said, a grin on his face. He already had on his duel disk "If ya wanna duel me so badly then let's duel. But just so ya know, I was runner up at Duelist Kingdom!" he boasted. "But first let my friend go."

Friend? But I just met him two seconds ago. If Joey dueled, he'd lose his Red-Eyes! The rare hunter shuffled me over to another rare hunter before he activated his duel disk.

"It's time to duel!" they shouted.

**x x x**

"Joey you ok?" I asked, holding out a hand and helping the blonde teen up. It had been a pretty unfair fight since the Rare Hunter had used fake cards to win the duel and then to add insult to injury, beat up poor Joey.

"No...my Red-Eyes-Black-Dragon...It's gone" he murmured to himself. Suddenly Joey started to wobble and then slowly body slammed me.

"Whoa...whoa...whoa... Don't you dare faint on me Joey Wheeler." I said, catching him and then crashing into the brick wall behind us.

"Nah...I ain't gonna faint. I...I just need a nap...that's all" he muttered, arms falling limp at his side. We both slide down to the ground and I wiggled my way out from under him.

It was official, Joey Wheeler was out cold.

* * *

Lol I own a pack of tarot cards, and I randomly picked one up off the floor and it was judgment. Talk about heart of the cards. The description of judgment was perfect for what I needed.

Hope you enjoyed. Review and tell me what you think xp

**Review**

**No Flames**

**ZTL  
**


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters**

**A/N:** Okay I know I said this was going to stick to the plotline, but I have no youtube and I can't find the episodes, so I'm going to try my best to stick as close as possible. I'm still browsing for any site that has yugioh whether it be japanese or english dub. I just need to see what's going on lol. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know it's somewhat short. This chapter and the following two chapters were originally one whole chapter, but I broke it down cause it was so long xp I'll post the other two asap.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Questions and No Answers, Just Great

"This is boring." I said to no one in particular. Sitting in an alley way with Joey was not at all exciting. I let out a sigh and glanced down to the still unconscious Joey, err well I think he shifted from unconscious to just plain asleep. The only reason I was still sitting with him was because he shouted out random words and he freaked out every time I poked him with a stick. Poking people in their sleep is highly entertaining.

I've come to except the fact that I am indeed not dreaming and that somehow that polluted fountain I tripped into, is magical. I've also learned never to make fun of tarot card readers.

_It is good you have finally come to your senses Allison Grey._

Telepathy never ceases to amaze me.

I scowled, "Look if you're going to keep talking to me, _Shadi_, at least say my name right. Allie. Al-lee." I said glaring at the wall in front of me.

"My hotdog!"

Random outburst alert curtesy of Joey. What are the chances the next thing he says doesn't have to do with food?

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my black jean shorts, and then looked around. That annoying spirit had to be around here somewhere. I decided now would be the time for him to explain whatever it was he wanted to tell me, since I had nothing better to do.

"Hello Allie."

"Ah!" I spun around and then let out a tiny scream, "Was that really necessary?" I glared at the man in the white turban.

"Yes," he replied flatly, "Moving on-"

"I have a question," I interrupted, "Are you bald?"

He froze in mid speech and gave me a frosty look.

I shrugged, "Sorry, but I've always wondered. So are you?" I prompted him.

Shadi remained silent.

I take his silence for a yes, "Oh don't worry, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Going bald at an early age is very common in guys. Now if you were bald _and_ fat, then you'd have something to worry about, _and_ since you're not, it's okay." I grinned.

The guardian of the tombs did not look amused. Gosh can't he take a joke?

"Here, take this." Shadi said, ignoring what had just happened. He withdrew a long silver chain with a small round golden pendant in the shape of a heart attached to it.

"Ooh," I said, holding out my hands and slipping it around my neck, "What does this do?"

"Don't steal MY muffin!"

I liked Joey when he was unconscious because at least then he was quiet. I looked at Shadi who was staring at Joey as though he were some kind of foreign creature. He seemed to realize he was staring and abruptly looked away, "The Millennium Heart is an item that allows the wearer to protect himself from the darkness."

Darkness, what darkness? Oh shadow realm darkness? Duh.

"So it makes you shadow realm proof?" I asked, "Aren't all Millennium Items shadow realm proof?" I furrowed my brows as I fumbled with the little trinket with my fingers.

The egyptian pursed his lips in an annoyed manner, "This item was made by the tears of Slifer the Sky Dragon, in a final attempt to protect the Pharaoh five thousand years ago."

"Cool." I said, letting the pendant fall where it rested against my chest. The heart shaped pendant had a tiny Millennium eye engraved on one of the sides and one the back was writing inscribed in teeny tiny hieroglyphics.

"I'm NOT a dog, Kaiba!"

I laughed, poor Joey, even in his dreams Kaiba mocks him, "Don't mind Joey," I told Shadi, who was once again staring at Joey as if he were the most bizarre creature he had ever seen, "Ummm so what do I do now?"

"That is for you decide." he replied.

So unhelpful!

I scowled, "How do I go home? What about my brother, my family, my life?" I said, my voice rising in anger. This was all fun and cool, but seriously, I needed to get back before my parents found out that I left Sam all alone. I never should have left Sam by himself. I feel so guilty. I'm a bad older sister. Bad Allie.

"The same way you came." Shadi said.

"I don't know how I got here." I said, "I accidentally tripped and fell into a fountain."

"Not my problem."

Jeez, aren't you nice, I thought sarcastically, "I don't have a deck." I told him.

The tomb keeper remained silent, his frosty blue eyes staring towards my lower hip. I followed his gaze and noticed something sticking out of the pocket of my jacket. I slowly slipped my hand in and pulled out…a deck of cards? I quickly scanned through the cards, Swift Gaia, Magician of Faith, Maha Vailo, Monster Reborn…these cards were a combination of Sam's and mine; the suckier cards are mine.

I looked up from my hand only to find the spirit had disappeared once again. Great, I can't duel! I'm like seriously duel monsters challenged hence why my seven year old brother beats me every time. My timing and strategies suck and luck is never on my side. NEVER!

I carefully placed the cards back inside my jacket. God forbid I'm challenged to a duel, at least I'll have a deck. Note to self, if I ever run into Solomon, get him to give me a few pointers.

I bent down and grabbed the stick I had been poking Joey with earlier and began poking him again. He stirred, but in the end, he only shouted, "Don't let the doughnuts get away!"

I rolled my eyes. Sorry Joey, but I'm officially bored, and I don't care about your stupid doughnuts. I raised back my foot and dug it straight into his stomach.

"Ah!" he bolted upright.

"Rise and shine Joey. It's the start of a new day. Live today as if there was no tomorrow. Don't waste your time worrying about what others think of you. And there's no point in crying over spilled milk." I grinned, staring up at the sky. There was nothing I could do right now, so why worry about a problem I obviously can't solve at the moment. I'm going to enjoy every minute I'm here before I trip and fall into a toilet and am flushed back home.

Joey contorted his face into utter confusion, "Wha?" he said.

"Anyways, isn't Kaiba's Battle City Tournament starting?" I asked.

That seemed to get Wheeler on his feet. He brushed off the dirt from his clothes and exclaimed, "I almost forgot. Thanks huh…"

"Allie. Allie Grey. Nice to meet you." I said.

Joey grinned, "Well thanks Allie. So I guess I'll see you around? Are you entering Kaiba's tournament too?"

I shrugged, "I don't know if I can," I told him, "I'm not a very good duelist and I don't have a duel disk."

"Dats alright Allie. Just believe in the heart of the cards and believe in yourself."

Wow, I'm getting advice from Joey Wheeler, that's a first.

"Anyways I gotta go and find dos rare hunter goons and win back my red eyes. Bye Allie." Joey waved and then ran off towards the main street, but not before he comically tripped over a couple of trash cans. I laughed, that was so expected of Joey.

Hmmm, now what I was I going to do? Well maybe I _would_ go and see if I could enter Kaiba's stupid tournament. _If_ I managed to somehow magically get a duel disk, where would I get a locater card? It's not as if they're being given away as special prizes.

* * *

**Thanks: YamiHeart, Vanessa, Looooooooony**

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters**

**A/N:** Okay a note on the story itself. The oc is a go with the flow type of girl so that makes the story semi serious but the rest is just chill. It really depends on the emotions and feeling of Allie that steers the tone of the chapter. Some will be serious, as I go on, but for now, just random comments from Allie and pure fun :D

* * *

**Chapter 3  
**

It Begins.

_Feeling lucky? _

_Guess the amount of cards in the box _

_Prize- One locater card_

Seriously? Why couldn't I have said: "And money will fall from the sky?" Or, "I will find a way home?"

Well I guess this explains how so many people got a locater card to enter Kaiba's tournament. Kaiba couldn't be bothered to have them sent out to the lesser, unimportant, amateurs so he set it up for anybody to have a chance. Well I guess that's kind of nice, considering it's Kaiba.

I looked at the box. It wasn't that big, but I wasn't going to let its size fool me. I know Sammy stuffed like a bazillion cards in a small box once and managed to fit the lid on perfectly.

I pushed some of my chocolate bangs out of my face in order to have a better look at the box. I'm terrible at math and dimensions and volume of stuff. I think that how many cards equals the volume of the box? I need a calculator before my brain explodes from trying to multiply…

"Oh, excuse me, are you in line for the this?"

My ears tingled slightly- a british accent? I turned around. White hair, pale skin, lots of blue, a strange necklace with the Eye of Horus in the middle? Hey, I knew this guy. Ryou Bakura. I let out a nervous chuckle, he sounded polite so I was pretty sure I was talking to Ryou and not Bakura, "Err yeah, but you can go ahead of me if you want to."

"Oh no, I'm sorry." Ryou said.

I turned back and analyzed the aluminum box and then gave a weak grin to the clerk who stood on the opposite side of the box. I had been standing here for five minutes thinking. I shrugged and grabbed a piece of paper, messily writing down: _608_. Those are the digits of my birthday because I honestly have no idea how many cards could be in there. I quickly passed up the paper.

The clerk peered down before grunting and nodding his head.

"Really?" I asked excitedly as he handed over one clear card with a piece of a map on it.

He remained silent. I grinned once more and then moved aside for the albino. Ryou only took a couple of seconds before writing down his guess. The clerk nodded his head and passed out one locater card as well.

What are the chances he guessed 608 too? It then suddenly occurred to me that the game was probably rigged. I could have guessed two and gotten a card. That is so cheap.

"Wow, I lucked out." Ryou commented as the clerk picked up the small box and took down the sign before returning inside his shop.

"Yeah, you did," I couldn't help replying.

"How many did you guess?" he questioned, pocketing his locater card.

I mirrored his action and placed the card in the inside of my jacket, "Six hundred and eight, what about you?"

"Five hundred and four," he gave me a sheepish grin.

I laughed, "It was probably rigged so that it was impossible for anybody to lose. Kaiba's way of being nice."

"You're probably right."

He turned around to walk away. I don't know what possessed me to stop him, but I did.

I felt like a deer caught in headlights, "Uhh do you know where I could get a duel disk. I'm kinda new here."

"Oh. I'm going to get one now. Why don't you come with me?" he asked.

I feel stupid. "Thank you so much," I told him.

"I'm Ryou Bakura." Ryou said as we walked down one of Domino's many streets.

"Allie Grey." I replied.

"Have you been dueling long?"

I had to think for a moment. Sam is seven, nearly eight. So it's been a year. I was sixteen when he brought home his first deck. It's been a year since then so…"Does dueling over a year count as long?" I asked.

"Yes, indeed it does." Ryou let out a light laugh.

I let out a sigh, "But I'm terrible at dueling."

"Don't worry Allie- oh look we're here." Ryou said, stopping in front of a shop.

I followed him inside. On both sides of the shop were stacks and stacks of cards, organized into types of monsters, spell cards, and trap cards. Ryou walked over to the counter.

"Ah Ryou Bakura. Yes you have five stars, the highest rank. You qualify to enter Mr. Kaiba's tournament."

I cocked my head to the side and squinted at the weasely shop keeper. Wasn't he a rare hunter? I'm almost certain of it. I looked at Ryou who was giving me a strange look and I realized I must have been spacing out. I muttered a quick 'sorry' and stepped up, "Uh Allison Grey?" I'm from a different world, duh, there's no way my name is going to pop up in his stupid computer. I technically don't exist-

He ran his fingers over the keyboard and just for a second, his face expression changed to shock. He ran his fingers once more over the keyboard, clicked on a few things before speaking, "Three stars. You just pass, Allision Grey. Congratulations."

What the heck? I technically don't exist so Kaiba can't know about me. And I'm a three star? What kind of crap is that? I'm definitely a one star or actually a no star. I repeatedly lose to a seven year old. I accepted the disk cautiously, keeping an eye on the rare hunter posing as a clerk. Why was he smirking?

"Cool!" I grinned, happily ripping open the box.

Ryou had already attached his disk to his arm. I couldn't figure out how to open it so I just wiggled my hand through and it just fit, but it was a little loose. Ryou helped me adjust it so that it was a perfect fit.

"Oh my gosh, this is heavy! Why would anyone want to walk around with this thing on all day?" I complained, as I lifted my arm up and down. If I attached another duel disk to my right arm, it would be like lifting weights.

Ryou chuckled, "You'll forget about it in a minute."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah sure. Easy for you to say, you're a guy."

We laughed.

"Well anyways Allie, I'd better be on my way. It was nice meeting you. Maybe we can duel each other some time?" Ryou said.

"Nah, I'd probably lose. I'm going to go and find a complete newbie to play against. Maybe then I'll finally win."

Ryou smiled, "Good luck Allie," he said before exiting the shop.

Yeah, I'm going to need all the luck I can get, I thought, walking out the door and making a left; opposite of the light ego.

Shouldn't Battle City be starting already? I wondered looking up at the sky for the giant blimp that would show Kaiba's giant head with his giant ego. A giant shadow was cast over the street. Ah here we go, I thought, looking up. Yup, there was Kaiba, on the big screen. God he has a big head. That screen is not big enough to hold his colossal ego.

Kaiba was laughing maniacally. "It's time to put your dueling skills to the test. I hope none of you entered my tournament looking for friendly competition. Battle City is going to be an all out war. Before my Battle City tournament begins, I thought I'd all let you know what you're in for, incase you want to back out now. Let's begin with my new duel disks, everyone who I thought was good enough to enter received one. With it you can duel any time, any where, and they contain a tracking chip that allows me to watch every move you make."

Yes, yes, please get on with it.

"-Next let's talk about the most important tournament rule. The loser of each duel is required to fork over their rarest card to the winner. "

No duh Kaiba, who else are they supposed to give it to huh, the spectators?

"If you don't have the guts to risk losing your precious card, then I suggest you forfeit now. AND anyone who's foolish enough can challenge me to a duel because I'll also be competing in this tournament. But don't get your hopes up because I intend to win and there's one duelist out there who I can't wait to defeat."

Of course Kaiba. We all know you have major issues when it comes to Yugi, the bane of your existence.

"Hn. And speaking of winning, only the eight best duelists will make it to the final round and these finals will be hidden in a secret location. In order to find the finals, you'll need these locater cards." Kaiba held up his own locater card.

Well I already knew that.

"You've each received one with your duel disk, but don't get to excited because in order to make it to the finals you'll need six locater cards. Every time you win a duel you'll get one locater card from the loser."

Almost like duelist kingdom, expect instead of collecting stars you collect cards.

* * *

**Thanks: Vanessa, YankeeSamson** lol thanks, but veoh is blocked to xp, **Yamiheart  
**

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters**

**A/N: **"_Italics_" Marik talking through his puppet people. Uh still trying to figure out how I'm going to stick to the plot without watching the episodes. In case anyone's wondering how I got the dialog right since I have no youtube, I had written this over two years ago when youtube wasn't being blocked xp But it has been severely edited lol.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The King of Games

I began walking again, not really sure where I was going. I had no intention of trying to win locater cards because I don't want to duel any of the finalists. But I did want to find Yugi and gawk at him- I mean, see him in person. There's no way I'm falling into Yugioh and not meeting Yugi, that would be counter productive.

I joined in a long line of duelists who seemed to know where they were going.

"Hey what are those Bob?" I heard one man ask another.

"They're giant wrist watches, John. It's the latest fashion trend." he replied.

I snorted and quickly sped up my pace before laughing hysterically. I sobered up after a couple of minutes which left me back to: where the heck was I going? I looked around, everyone else seemed to know where they were going and a couple of people were already dueling each other. I recognized a few cards like…okay no I didn't recognize any of the cards people were using. All the cards I know are in my deck, that's it.

"Hey, where's everyone going?" I asked no one in particular.

"Don't you know?" one boy said, pausing in his steps, "Yugi Moto already started a duel, and with a rare hunter."

"Oh. Thanks." Duh, I knew that. I guessed the boy was going with his friends to watch Yugi so I followed them, which eventually led me to Domino Square where all the little shops and stuff were. By the time I got there, the duel had already ended and the rare hunter was on his knees, utterly surprised he lost. Don't you know, it's impossible to win against Yugi, silly rare hunter? The good guy always wins.

"I'm taking Joey's Red-Eyes back and I'm also going to take your locater cards too." Yami Yugi informed the hunter as if he were speaking to a mere child.

All of a sudden the rare hunter started shouting up into the sky while rising to his feet. "I've lost! I've failed. Forgive me Master! I tried my best! No please don't be angry. Ahhhhhhh" he grabbed his head. He became sickly quiet and then the Eye of Horus appeared on his forehead. "_We meet again Pharaoh. Remember me Pharaoh, actually perhaps you don't._"

Then what was the point of asking that question? I thought to myself as I watched Joey and Yugi meet Marik or rather Marik's puppet thing.

"_You were trapped in the puzzle when I dueled little Yugi. Congratulations on defeating my Rare Hunter even though he was the weakest duelist in my crew, My other minions will prove more better than this idiot._"

Joey whispered to Yugi "Yug what is with this freak show?"

"_Pharaoh I've waited for you for years and after all this time I will destroy you._"

Gosh Marik, could you be any more original? Trying to destroy Yugi is such a cliche that I'm surprised Yami is even to be surprised in the first place.

"_I will not allow my other Rare Hunters to fail me like this one did. I have little time for this foolishness, so I've taken over his body and trapped his mind in the Shadow Realm. I am in control._"

Yami asked "How do you control him."

"Each of the Millennium items have it's own unique power. So mind control is a simple task with my Millennium Rod. Allow me to introduce myself, remember my name, Marik."

"Marik what is it that you want from me?" Yami asked.

Wow, you can't figure it out for yourself? I watched on with amusement while the other people seemed unable to find their conversation abnormal. As if taking over the world is the usual topic of conversation.

"_I want what belongs to me. And I'll take it using the strength of the Egyptian God Cards._"

"Egyptian what?" Both Joey and Yugi asked at the same time

"_Many Millennia ago a trio of powerful monsters rampaged throughout ancient Egypt. These Egyptian God Monsters spread destruction throughout the world. Until the Pharaoh sealed them away for eternity. But when Pegasus created duel monsters, he resurrected these beasts as cards. With these Egyptian Gods, I can destroy you and claim the power I deserve. Muhahahahahaha..._"

And there goes Marik, off to try and destroy Yami with a different rare hunter.

"Here Joey take your Red-Eye's back." Yami held out the card

Joey stared at his card for a few seconds before shaking his head "Nah Yug, you hold onto it, it isn't mine to take pal. You won it fair and square. Besides da Rare Hunters have collected tons of rare cards. Their decks are totally equipped with everything they could possibly need. So I know they're gonna be tough to beat, even for you."

"What are you saying Joey?" asked a once again confused Yami.

"I'm saying one day you'll need all the powerful monsters you can get plus you can think of me every time you play my Red-Eyes. I want you to keep my Red-Eyes because it will definitely come in handy. A part of me will always be with you. Besides it's kinda cool knowing that my card will help save the world."

Wow Joey that was deep. And for the next five minutes the duo went on into their friendship speech followed by their save the world speech and then the heart of the card speech and a few other speeches. Well as entertaining as watching them talk is, I think I'll go and walk around, maybe go and find the Game Shop.

"Allie?"

I turned around and grinned, "Sup? That was some duel, congrats." I told Yami.

Joey grinned, "Yug, dis is Allie, the girl I was tellin ya about."

Yami returned to his soul chamber leaving me to talk to his hikari, "Thanks. I'm Yugi Moto."

I chuckled, "Yes I know who you are. You're so famous around here. I'm secretly a fan girl." I whispered, winking at him. I laughed again as a faint crimson blush spread across his face, "But don't worry, I won't chase you…at least not today. I'm Allie Grey and I'm new to Domino City." Yeah that's the story I'm going with, cause it's simple.

"H-hi." he stuttered.

I'm shaking hands with Yugi Moto! Breathe Allie. Yes, that's it. Just move hand up and down. Okay, now stop. Good. Way to play it cool, Allie.

"My little brother really admires you." Stop talking Allie. "He's based his whole deck and strategy and playing style after you," It's like word vomit. Where's the duct tape?

Yugi blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck, "Thanks, I guess."

Joey frowned and then pointed to himself eagerly "Hey what about me? I was runner up in Duelist Kingdom!"

How many more times can you say that?

"Oh, no, he admires you too." I added before Joey could go into one of his rants, "Yeah, he thinks your so fly." I added sarcastically.

The blonde teen folded his arms and nodded his head, "Finally, I get da respect I deserve," he said in his brooklyn accent, completely missing the sarcasm. I shook my head and chuckled softly.

"So Allie, you entered into the tournament as well?" the king of games asked.

I shrugged, twirling a piece of my chocolate brown hair with my finger, "I entered on an impulsive whim." I said, "But I'm not any good or anything, my little brother beats me all the time." I said after a moments of thought.

"Allie, you shouldn't put yourself down like that," Yugi said, "Everyone goes at their own pace. Hey you might even win your first battle today."

I scratched my head absentmindedly and looked around at the mass of people just aimlessly wandering about, "I don't know…"

"Allie, if you want, I could give advice since you seem to be a beginner." the tri-hair colored duelist offered earnestly, "Oh, but don't worry, I won't memorize your cards or anything," he added hastily.

Ooh advice! Yes I needed all the help I could get if I was going to play this game. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my deck, handing it over to Yugi. Joey hovered closely behind him, interested in my deck as well. Yugi quickly gazed through my deck, "Whoa," he murmured to himself as he passed over my Chaos Command Magician

"Err…yeah. Most of these cards belong to my brother though. Our decks accidentally got mixed together," I told him, "The weaker, lamer cards are mine."

"Wow, you have some pretty powerful monsters, Allie," Yugi commented, handing me back my deck, "With the right strategy and combination, you could easily win a duel. You have a lot of monsters with special abilities. Do you know what your monsters can do?"

I shook my head, "Not really."

"For example, the card, Princess of Tsurugi, even though it's a weak monster, it has the special ability to deliver 500 points of damage to your opponents life points for every magic or trap card on their side of the field."

"That's the pretty woman with the ice shards right?" I asked.

Yugi nodded his head.

"And a card combo that is extremely dangerous is your Marie the Fallen One and Fire Princess. When Marie is in your card graveyard, every time it's your turn, you gain an extra 200 life points. If you have your Fire Princess on the field, every time you gain life points, your opponent automatically loses 500 life points because of her special ability." Yugi said.

Well I actually knew that. I got that card combo from Rebecca but unluckily for me, I never seem to be able to draw either of the cards at the right time.

"Also Kaiba added some new rules to his tournament," Yugi added.

"Say wha?" Joey muttered, "What are dese new rules, Yug?"

The spiky haired boy turned to his friend, "You can only summon four star monsters or lower onto the field. Anything higher, you have to sacrifice a monster first, and for seven star monsters, you have to sacrifice two monsters."

"Wha? Kaiba that no good jerk." Joey grumbled, narrowing his eyes, "Thanks for the heads up Yug. I'm gonna go and win my first locater card. I'll see you at the secret location, I guess."

Yugi gave him the thumbs up, "Right back at'cha pal."

"Good luck Allie." Joey said, also giving me a thumbs up.

"Thanks." I grinned, flashing him the peace sign. I want to duel at least one person just to see if maybe I'd have better luck here, but I definitely do not want to make it all the way. I might accidentally alter something that would send the world plummeting to its doom, kidding. I couldn't screw up things that badly.

"Uhh…now what?" I asked awkwardly, looking at the people behind Yugi. I don't know why I was feeling shy all of a sudden, usually I'm loud and charismatic- not as friendly as Yugi though.

Yugi looked just as uncomfortable as I did, "Well I think I'm going to go and try and win my next locater card…" his voice trailed off.

I nodded, duh, "Of course. Sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up or anything." I said.

"Oh no you didn't. I'm glad to have met you. Any friend of Joey's is a friend of mine too," the boy beamed at me.

Aww Yugi's so adorable. I just want to hug him. Focus Allie, "Ditto. Uhh then if you're going to go and win your next locater card, then I'm gonna go find a sucker willing to duel me." I joked.

"That's the spirit." Yugi grinned, "It was nice meeting you, Allie. I hope we get to meet again."

Me too. I watched as Yugi began to walk away and I randomly blurted out, "Yugi, you're going to meet him sooner than you think. So be careful, okay?" I told him. He tilted his head to the side in confusion and gave me an odd look. I waved at him and took off, skipping down towards another large group of people.

This could actually be fun, I thought to myself, as I slowed down to a walk, let's see now…who do I wanna find next? I took a minute to remember how everything went. Marik's still on a ship coming from somewhere, I already met Ryou, but not Bakura…maybe I should go meet Bakura? No, he'd probably try to eat my soul. I'm not really a fangirl of Kaiba, but he's somewhat cool- although I probably wouldn't be able to talk to him, just stare at him- am I even allowed to breathe the same air as him?

"Hey girl, didn't you know, Battle City is for guys only."

It took me a moment to figure out that someone was talking to me. I narrowed my eyes, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, so why don't you go back home and play with your dollies?" he and his friends started snickering.

Play with my dollies? How old does this brat think I am? Do I look like I'm seven? Besides the only doll I ever had was this strange Barbie, but she didn't last long since I ripped off her head. "I don't feel like it." I said coolly and then turned to walk away.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you."

I shrugged, "That's okay, cause I'm done listening to you."

"Oh yeah, well I challenge you to a duel. I'll prove to you, girls don't belong in Battle City." he sneered.

"Who says I have to accept?" I replied with equal venom.

"Battle City Rules." he smirked.

Shit, I feel stupid now. I knew that. "Fine." I slipped my deck into the disk and watched as the numbers rolled up to 4000.

Oh my gosh, what am I doing? Isn't this what we were trying to avoid, Allie? Just breathe…breathe…BREATHE! I could feel my heart racing in panic as I drew my cards with a shaky hand. I suddenly blanked on all my cards.

"Let's duel." wow the words are coming out without me having to think. Where's my script?

Okay, you can say it. I am totally screwed.

* * *

**Thanks: Yamiheart**

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of it's characters**

**Summary: **I fell into a fountain, nearly drowned and then somehow ended up in Yugioh? I can't duel, and I don't have any powers. So what can I do? Wreak havoc on people. Give a giant headache to a few ancient spirits, confuse the heck out of Joey and just plain piss off a billionaire.

**A/N- **Okay so I managed to write a really long and detailed duel scene. Obviously this does not appear in the show. I'll explain how I wrote it just to make sure you guys don't think I bs-ed my way through it. For Allie's deck, I went and picked out around 40 cards for her- her deck won't change. Most of the cards I picked are my favorites. I made sure not to pick too strong monsters because that would be very mary-sue. She has a couple…I think, I'll have to go back and check, but really they stay in the level 4 category. For the opponent's deck I had **eclipse** go and pick forty random cards and the order that she picked them was the order of the deck. It really all came down to luck- for the winner. I numbered Allie's cards 1-40 and then wrote 1-40 in a random order which then became the order for her deck. Honestly, I was very surprised the outcome. I really I hope I played the cards right, if I made a mistake, please tell me ;D

* * *

**Chapter 5**

It's Time to Duel!

"Call it." the boy sneered, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a silver coin.

"Uhh, heads." I shouted randomly.

He tossed it into the air and I watched it fall to the ground, spinning and then laying flat, "It's heads. You go first."

**Allie: **4000

**Carlos:** 4000

I frowned at my hand, disappointed that I didn't draw any usable cards. Half of my hand were magic and trap cards while the other half were monsters that I couldn't automatically summon. Well I'm not off to a good start, "Ah, I was hoping to save this card for later, " I mumbled to myself, "I summon my Magician of Faith in defense mode and then place three cards face down."

**Allie: **4000

**Carlos:** 4000

He smirked, "This is why girls shouldn't be allowed to play," he sneered, "I summon my Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode and then I activate the magic card, Horn of Light which increases Kaiser's defense by 500 points-"

"You're pretty arrogant to think you can just ignore my face down cards," I told him, "By discarding one card from my hand, I can activate the trap card, Magic Jammer. And you know what this card does. It can stop the activation of your Horn of Light and then automatically destroy it. So if I were you, I wouldn't underestimate me because I'm a girl."

He growled, "You got lucky, girl. I place one card face down and end my turn."

**Allie: **4000

**Carlos: **4000

I drew a card from my deck and then silently cursed it- Mammoth Graveyard, there wasn't anything I could do with him now. I looked towards my level six monster. Should I summon him? I asked myself, his defense was pretty low and I didn't have any cards to save him, should the boy decide to go after him. But on the other hand my monster could wipe out his stupid Kaiser Sea Horse. Wait? Can I even summon him? My Magician of Faith seems to weak to be offered as a tribute, "First I summon my Mammoth Graveyard in defense mode and then I activate the trap card, Just Desserts and end my turn."

**Allie: **4000

**Carlos: **3500

I know, it was probably a waste of a perfectly good trap, but I wanted to get the battle going and the only way to win is to go on the offensive.

"Hn. I activate the magic card, Black Pendant. This gives Kaiser Sea Horse an extra 500 attack points. So wipe out her silly Magician."

I winced in sympathy as I watched the overgrown piece of coral stab my magician with his trident, lance sword thing.

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos: **3500

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I stared at my duel disk with wide eyes, "Why'd my life points go down? She was in defense mode."

He laughed, "Don't you even know how to play the game? It's the second effect of the Black Pendant. As soon as it's sent to the card graveyard, it inflicts 500 points with of damage to my opponent's life points, which would be you."

I growled, "My move," I viciously drew another card- nope I can't play that right now, "I sacrifice my Mammoth Graveyard in order to summon my Summoned Skull! Take out that…that ugly thing with your lightening strike!" I ordered, pointing at the stoic creature that stood opposite of us. Yeah I know, it's not the best insult.

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos: **2700

"You're going to pay for that," he panted, jumping back to his feet and giving me his best glare.

Am I? Huh? Am I? Am I? Yeah, I probably am.

He sneered, "I summon the Amazoness Swords Woman in attack mode and then end my turn."

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos:** 2700

I narrowed my eyes at him, what was he playing at? His monster had higher attack points than my monster defense so why didn't he attack? Wait could he? Sam had explained this to me over and over. Come on Allie, what did he say? I closed my eyes, trying to recall the words.

_When attacking a monster in attack mode, your monster's attack points need to be higher than the other monter's attack points in order to destroy it. It doesn't matter about its defense points, even if your monster's attack points are higher than the other monster's defense points. But it's different when the monster being attacked is in defense mode, then attacking monster's attack points must be higher than the other monster's defensive power. Get it Allie?_

Oh so my Summoned Skull was safe since his attack points were way higher than that woman's. I let out a sigh of relief. Gosh and here I was thinking dueling was so easy. I can't believe I was able to remember such a complicated rule. This is exactly why I am duel monsters challenged.

"Summoned Skull, use your lightening strike and-" the rest of the sentence got stuck and I completely blanked as I saw a tiny smile flicker across his face, "Wait, hang on."

_Allie, don't fall for obvious traps._

Che, duh, like rule number one of dueling. I took a moment to think, his Amazoness probably had a special ability that would activate if I destroyed it.

"I summon the Mythical Beast Cerberus is defense mode and end my turn." I said. Okay I really need to draw some magic or trap cards because at this rate I'm going to lose…and badly.

The spiky haired boy scowled, "I summon the Cure Mermaid in defense mode and then I'll have my Amazon attack your Mythical Beast Cerberus."

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos: **2700

I glared angrily at him as I drew my next card. Yes! Finally, I got a useful card, "Alright, watch this. First I summon my Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode and then I activate the magic card, Stop Defense." I watched as his face fell, oh yeah, that's right- payback is a bitch, "And now I believe that I'm allowed to attack you straight away, so first I'll have my Skilled Dark Magician attack your stupid Cure Mermaid with his black magic attack!"

It was satisfying to watch as the stupid mermaid shattered into pieces- it really made me feel happy.

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos: **2300

Oh go me, I rock.

"It's not over yet, girl. My move," he drew a card and scowled, "I summon the Warrior of Zera in defense mode."

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos:** 2300

Sweet, I drew a powerful monster. With this I could easily wipe out all his monsters. But I'm worried about his Amazon. I think attacking her with any high leveled monster will only just backfire on me. I need to get rid of her using a trap or magic card or use a monster whose attack points are just slightly higher than her defense points. "I play my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in defense mode and then destroy your Warrior of Zera with my Skilled Dark Magician." No I won't use my Summoned Skull to destroy the rest of his life points. I want to try something out first because who knows when I'll ever get another chance to duel.

**Allie: **3500

**Carlos: **2300

A grin spread across his face as he picked up his next card, "First I summon my Amazoness Chain Master and then I activate the magic card, Share the Pain. We both have to tribute one monster already on the field. I sacrifice my Amazoness Chain Master."

Bye bye, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, I waved sadly as he disappeared, I'll avenge you, somehow…eventually. I slid out another card from my deck, "Alright check this move out. I sacrifice my Summoned Skull and Skilled Dark Magician in order to summon Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight!"

So ha, take that!

"-and then I'll have my Swift Gaia attack your Amazoness Swords Woman!" I cried- well whatever her special ability is, I'll find out now.

"That's a mistake on your part, girl," he sneered, "Any damage I take from your attack is taken out from your life points, thanks to my Amazoness Swords Woman's special effect."

Whoa I just lost a a big chunk of life points! I glared over at my opponent and his stupid card's effect. "I end my turn." I snarled.

**Allie: **2700

**Carlos: **2300

"I play the Oppressed People in defense mode."

The Oppressed People, that's actually the name of a card? Hmm…well I could go and attack them, but I think I'll try and get more monsters on the field. "I place one card facedown in defense mode and then I'll attack your people with Swift Gaia." Yeah, I changed my mind.

**Allie: **2700

**Carlos: **2300

He drew a card and grimaced, "I place on card facedown and end my turn."

Should I attack? He had no monsters on the field. But I really wanted him to attack my facedown card, cause its flip effect was awesome. And besides since he didn't play any monsters, his facedown card was probably some sort of trap- and I definitely didn't want him to activate that. That would ruin my entire plan…not that I really had a plan anyways.

"I activate the magic card, Pot of Greed. This allows me to draw two cards." Which I totally need right now, I added silently. Crap, just a couple of magic cards. C'mon dude, attack my facedown monster, please! "-and then I end my turn."

**Allie: **2700

**Carlos: **2300

He smirked after glancing at the card he drew, "Check this move out. I place one card facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

I gave him a bored look, that was it? He seemed so excited. Okay, so I'll go on the offensive, "Swift Gaia attack his facedown monster."

He laughed, "Ha! You've activated Lady Assailant of Flames' special ability. By discarding three cards from the top of my deck, I do 800 points worth of direct damage."

Crap, I moved too fast.

No! That's not fair! I was winning.

**Allie: **1900

**Carlos: **2300

"My turn now." he smirked, "I summon Amazoness Fighter, attack her facedown card."

Wow, this guy has a lot of cards with Amazoness.

**Allie: **1900

**Carlos: **1800

"Hey, why'd my life points go down?" he exclaimed.

I chuckled at the fact he had been caught off guard, "The card you destroyed was Princess of Tsurugi. She has a flip effect of delivering 500 points of damage to your life points for every magic and trap card on your side of the field." I drew a card, "Now I summon Soul Tiger in defense mode and then I'll attack your Amazoness with Swfit Gaia."

**Allie: **1900

**Carlos: **1800

His life points didn't budge even though my knight obliterated his card into little pieces, "Let me guess, your card has a special ability?"

"You're correct. All battle damage from your card is turned to zero." he said smugly, drawing a card, "I summon Amazoness Blowpiper in defense mode and thanks to _her_ special ability, your Knight loses 500 attack points."

I'm really getting sick of his stupid Amazoness cards. If he plays one more of his stupid cards, I am going to march over there and hit him. Honestly, doesn't he have any variety or other cards? And just how many cards are there with the word Amazoness in it?

I scowled, completely annoyed, "That's fine with me. Swift Gaia can still wipe out your Blowpiper," I glanced at my hand, I really need a monster card with high attack points. Please, come on cards. I peeked my eye open, sweet this card could work, "I activate the magic card, Monster Reborn to bring back my Summoned Skull and since you have no monsters on the field to protect yourself, I can attack you with his lightening strike!"

"N-no wait, you can't!" he declared.

I raised a brow and pretended to think his words over, "Uh yeah, I'm pretty sure I can, dude. And I'm also pretty sure that means you lose the duel too."

**Allie: **1900

**Carlos: **0

I won?

* * *

**Thanks: YankeeSamson-** lol I bet your better than Allie ;D**, aquablee, Yamiheart**- you're so sweet, thank you

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**

1/20/11 - I screwed this duel up, so sorry that it sucks. I realized that when I was writing the second duel scene. I went back and fixed my mistake but now the ending is so terrible. I'm sorry.


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its characters**

**A/N:** Sorry the update took so long. I had to stop and study for finals. Thank god they're over. I know the opening for this chapter is a little strange, I honestly couldn't think of how to write the opening so it would lead to Allie meeting up with Yugi again. This was the best that I could come up with. I still can't find a site to watch yugioh in english so I'm not promising the dialog is going to be exact. I can watch the series in japanese but there are no subtitles and I can understand only some japanese xp Umm…enjoy?

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Meeting the other half

"No!"

Yes.

I watched as Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight and my Summoned Skull both burst into tiny holographic pieces. I withdrew my deck from its slot and smiled at it, mentally thanking my cards as I placed them back inside my jacket. I wish Sam had been here to see me beat him, because he'd never believe it if I told him.

"I won," I grinned, "So hand over your rarest card and locater card please," I said, holding out my hand expectantly. I feel oddly calm for having just won my very first duel, maybe it's a delayed reaction-

"T-the battle doesn't count." he stammered before disappearing into the sea of people behind him.

_The battle doesn't count…The battle doesn't count…The battle doesn't count…_

-scratch that. Now I'm mad.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE BATTLE DOESN'T COUNT?" I yelled as his words slowly registered in my mind, "HEY YOU, GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME YOUR CARD!"

If he thought he could pull a fast one on me, he was sadly mistaken. With purple hair like that, it was easy to follow him, the only problem was keeping up with him- running is definitely not my forte. He ducked left, down into a narrow gap in the street- oh no he wasn't getting away that easily! I sped up my pace, rounding the corner and jumping over a couple of trash cans. We were only a foot apart, if I leapt, I could body tackle him to the ground.

"You sore loser!" I growled as I lunged at him.

SMACK

"Ompf."

If you wondering, that smack sound is not the sound of me tackling him, but rather me kissing the ground. And that 'ompf' is the sound I make when I have the wind knocked out of me after smacking hard onto the concrete. Curse my stupid luck! Of course I win the battle against the one person who won't give me his cards.

I could feel my eyes watering, whether it was from not getting a card or from colliding painfully with a very solid object, I didn't know. I picked myself up and brushed the dirt from white tank top- and I really liked this one too. I looked around, my opponent was long gone- it'd take a serious amount of luck to ever see him again. I walked to the end of the alley and scanned the area- yup he was definitely gone. The alley led out into a square shaped area where lots of duelist were battling each other.

I looked around, walking from duel to duel, to see what kind of cards people were using.

"Allie!"

I spun around and squinted at a figure standing at the opposite end. There were only two people who knew me so logically it could only be Joey or Yugi. Another second of staring and I recognized him to be Yugi.

"Hey," I said, waving as he got closer.

Yugi paused to catch his breath before grinning up at me, "Have you battled anyone yet?" he asked.

I grinned back at him, "Yup, I won my very first duel just a couple of minutes ago,"

He chuckled, "Ah, that's great. Now you're one step closer to entering Battle City Finals."

Yeah right, as if I'm going to do that. One battle was good enough for me, I don't think I could handle such pressure. I hate it when people watch me, it's just so nerve racking. I scratched my head absentmindedly, "Yeah, I wish," I muttered, forgetting for a moment, the number one most selfless person was standing right next to me.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, concern written all over his face.

I hesitated, trying to think of a possible lie. I didn't want to get Yugi involved in an insignificant problem- he had better things to do. Sadly, I was unable to come up with a reasonable lie, so I told him what really happened, "The guy I dueled ran off without giving me his cards," I said, letting out a hollow laugh, "But it doesn't matter, I wasn't planning on competing in the finals anyways."

"That's terrible," the king of games exclaimed, "And of course it matters, Allie. You should believe in yourself."

No, actually I really didn't mind. I was sad that I didn't have that loser's card to remind me of my _awesome_ win, but it wasn't that big a deal. "Yeah, I guess so," I mumbled, looking away.

"I'll help you look for him," Yugi offered shyly.

I looked at him gratefully, "Really?" I asked, "You would do that for me?"

"Of course, what are friends for?" he replied, grinning.

I wanted to hug him right then and there, but I held myself back because it would be totally inappropriate and probably just weird him out. But one of these days, I swear, I will hug Yugi…well I'd rather hug Yami, but I'm not going to be picky.

We began to walk across the square as Yugi asked, "What did he look like?"

"Purple hair!" I said automatically, "Err…he had purple hair and mean little eyes and an obnoxious voice." I said, glaring at the scenery in front of me. I closed my eyes, trying hard to remember anything else about him, but really everything was blurry, "Sorry, I can't remember much. I have a horrible memory," I murmured.

"No, it's not your fault," he reassured me.

You'd think I could remember the face of someone I spent a whole hour and a half with. "But he has purple hair," I said helpfully, "Not a lot of people have purple hair, right?"

Yugi nodded his head, "Yes, that's true."

"So, if we just ask around, maybe someone might know where he went." I said.

We didn't look for very long before I felt myself succumbing to hunger and I realized that I hadn't eaten since last night. My whole sense of time had been completely warped- I wasn't even sure what time it was. I assumed it was around noon or so.

"We can stop and rest for a bit," Yugi suggested.

I was about to agree when another problem hit me; I had no money. I looked away and shook my head, "No, I'm fine. We should continue looking."

Yugi ran ahead and pointed to a little cafe up ahead, "Oh c'mon Allie, what's the harm in stopping for a bit?"

I bit my lower lip, trying to think of an excuse to not eat, "But-"

"My treat," he said, beaming up at me, "So let's go."

Well I couldn't really say no to free food could I? I shrugged my shoulders and allowed myself to trot after him. I picked the table outside while Yugi went inside to order. As soon as I sat down, I yanked off the duel disk and massaged my arm. Those things are really heavy, I don't know how anybody could walk around all day wearing them.

"Here Allie,"

A dark beverage was thrust into my line of view, "Thanks Yuu…," I began to say before freezing in mid-speech.

The blonde raised a questioning brow before sitting down opposite of me.

I shook my head and quietly sipped my drink, trying to force myself to act normally. I could already feel my face turning red and so in order no to embarrass myself, I just looked away. For awhile we sat in awkward silence until the king of games decided to break it.

"Allie," he started.

I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, nearly knocking over my iced tea, "Yeah?" I asked.

The five thousand year old spirit propped his elbows onto the table and rested his chin against his laced fingers. He leaned forward just a bit as he said, "I've been wondering ever since we parted ways, what did you mean when you said 'You're going to meet him sooner than you think'?" Yami asked.

I opened my mouth but the words got stuck in my throat. I frowned at the table, why couldn't I have just said 'good luck' like a normal person? I wasn't trying to draw attention to the fact that I wasn't from around here. Why did Yami have to have a memory like an elephant? What do I say now? Lie?

Yami Yugi sat patiently with a neutral expression on his face.

_It is wiser if you keep quiet._

Shut up, I snapped, if you don't have anything useful to say then _you_ keep quiet. Stupid spirit, don't read my thoughts. Although Shadi was probably right-

_Of course I am._

Shh! I'll only tell him what he needs to know, happy? I mentally thought, now get out of my head.

Yami sent me a weird look which brought me out of my thoughts and back to the present. I cracked a tiny grin, "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," I faltered, glancing down at my drink. If I looked at Yami for any longer, my face was going to turn majorly red again.

The Pharaoh gave me a skeptical look, "Well you won't know until you try," he said slowly, sending me an encouraging nod.

"Wait before I tell you, is Yugi listening as well?" I inquired.

"So you know," he mused under his breath, but more to himself than to me, "If you do not wish him to, he will respect your decision," Yami finally replied.

Well great, that made me feel like a horrible person. Yugi, someone who didn't even know me, who had offered to help search for the guy who ran away with _my _locater card, would put my feelings first. Of course I couldn't tell him no.

"No, he can listen too," I said, grinning, "Anyways umm I'm sorry to say, but I can't tell you everything because I'm still trying to figure things out."

"Of course," Yami nodded his head.

"Umm well first thing you should know about me is that I'm not from here." I said, twirling my straw with my hand. I tend to fiddle objects when I'm put on the spot, it helps me relax. "I fell into a fountain and ended up somehow falling into your world," I added on.

The Pharaoh was still confused, "What do you mean?"

I chuckled, "Exactly as I said. I tripped and fell into a fountain which then transported me here. Even I don't really understand how it's even possible for something like that to happen." I glanced up at the bright sky, watching as clouds drifted by.

"But how-"

"Search me," I shrugged, "But it doesn't really matter, does it? And in regards to how I knew umm-" I couldn't tell him he was a tv show, that would be insane. There had to be something I could say, "Well, truth be told, I wasn't referring to your battle with Arcana- you did battle a man called Arcana right?" I questioned him quickly.

"Yes, but how did you-"

Oh my gosh I am just making this worse for myself. "Uh that is one of those things that I can't really tell you yet. I'm sorry. I really want to though, if it's any consolation. But I don't think it would be a good idea. Please don't be mad."

Yami frowned, "Why would I be mad? It is your secret to tell, when you're ready of course." His tone suggested that at some point I was going to tell him.

Aw the way he said 'secret' made me feel ten times worse than I already did. "And about the warning thing, I wasn't referring to your duel with Arcana, but for something later on. Once again I can't say how I know, but trust me, I _know_," I smiled, taking another sip of my cool drink. I watched as Yami thought over everything I had just told him, albeit there wasn't much to think over. I wish I could just tell him everything, how simpler it would make things.

After a few more minutes of thinking, Yami silently disappeared leaving his hikari in his place. Yugi settled his gaze on his soda, playing with the little lemon slice.

"He's not mad is he?" I finally asked. It's easier to talk to Yugi because he doesn't have an intimidating aura.

Yugi looked like a deer caught in headlights, "Well it's not that he's mad…"

"He just doesn't trust me?" I said, finishing the sentence for him.

Yugi shook his head, "No it's not that, Allie."

I raised a brow, "Really? Because it's okay if he doesn't. I haven't given him much reason to trust me."

"No, Yami understands. He's just thinking things over." Yugi explained.

"Really?"

"Really."

I shrugged, "Okay."

"Hey, Allie, let's continue looking for that guy," Yugi said, standing up.

"No," I told him, "I've taken up enough of your time. You should go and continue winning more locater cards. I can find him on my own, after all how many people in Domino City have purple hair?" I laughed, also standing up.

Yugi hesitated, "Are you sure Allie, because I don't mind helping you look."

I shook my head, "Nah, I can do it. But if you do happen to see a boy with purple hair…" my voice trailed off.

The blonde duelist nodded his head, "Of course,"

"Cool. Good luck to you Yugi and hopefully we'll meet again." I sent him a victory sign and watched as he ran off, giving him a wave of my own as he waved good-bye.

* * *

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**Thanks: Darquesse**, **YankeeSamson**, **YamiHeart **she played it in attack mode ;D **EgyptianSoul88**

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters.**

**A/N: **Lol I was watching Yugioh and I realized I made a HUGE mistake for Allie's battle. Allie's not duel monsters challenged, I am lol. I totally messed up the way battle damage was supposed to be calculated and stuff. It's too complicated to explain, but I think I've gotten everything under control xp I've gone back and corrected it, but the ending of the duel is now really lame, but oh well it was my first try. Next duel, I know what I'm doing now. Okay so I've planned out what's going to happen for the next three chapters, I'm going to try and write them all before the end of this week. I have SAT exams in less then 3 weeks so I've really got to start studying. My winter vacation is ending… *snivel* so sad. There's not that much action this chapter but the next one to come we'll have more Yami and Allie interaction. Anyways hope you enjoy ^^

_Italics- _Shadi speaking

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

My Luck Has A Mind Of Its Own

Great, just great, I thought grimly as I walked along a random street. I had spent the rest of the afternoon hunting for that purple haired slimy weasel and avoiding being challenged to a battle by other duelists. I knew I should have said yes when Yugi offered to continue helping me. Why did I say no? Oh that's right because Yugi needs to get his six locater cards and save the world…again. But I'm so lonely and there's no one to talk to!

I glanced up at the sky since I had no other way of telling the time. Why couldn't Kaiba have bothered to install a watch in his ridiculously heavy duel disk? I mean why can't this stupid thing display the time when I'm not dueling? It's got a screen and people wear it like a watch ergo it should be able to tell the time! I sent the duel disk a very nasty look.

"Hey girl!"

I stopped and spun around, searching for the person who dared to address me. All afternoon I had males shouting at me 'Hey you!' and 'Hey girl!'. I could feel a vein throbbing on my forehead out of irritation. "What?" I demanded.

"I challenge you to a duel." he said, smirking.

"Hmmm," I pretended to think, placing a finger to my chin, "No." I replied, turning on my heel and walking away.

"B-but you can't! Battle City Rules state that you _have _to accept my challenge!" the boy stammered, running ahead of me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, he seemed pretty harmless. I relaxed a little bit, with a little bit of persuasion and smooth talking, I could get out of having to duel him. I wasn't in the mood for running because the last guy I out ran, caused me to sprain my ankle. I wouldn't be able to out run this kid, not that he'd probably try to chase me anyways. I smiled at him, "Why on earth would you want to duel me?" I asked, moving towards him. I silently chuckled as he took a step backwards, "If you want to make it to the finals, you're better off challenging someone with a lot of locater cards. As you can see I only have one locater card," I told him, pulling out the clear card from my pocket.

"B-but-"

"Times running out for you to qualify." I interrupted him. I could see him hesitating and so I went out, "You should really pick your battles wisely. I've got nothing to offer you. But that guy," I said, pointing to the first person I saw with a duel disk, "He's got a super rare card and a couple of locater cards."

"R-really?"

"Yes," I nodded, "So why don't you take your little duel disk and your fancy cards and go challenge him."- _and leave me alone_, I added after he left.

Phew, that was a close one. I didn't want to stick around just incase the kid changed his mind. I hobbled across the street and over towards what looked to be a park. I needed to sit down before my luck caused me to somehow break my ankle. That stupid guy, chasing me around and around Battle City. I closed my eyes- I'm only just going to rest my eyes for a little while. I had thought about going to find Joey and follow him around but Battle City is so big, I'd just be wasting my energy.

"I activate the trap card, Grave Robber!"

I frowned, hey wait a minute I know that voice. Opening my eyes I looked around. A very hideous oversized mutated spider caught my attention and across from it was one very familiar blonde. I stood up, forgetting about my pain and strode over. My luck works in mysterious ways, but I wasn't complaining.

"Time to exterminate your queen!" Joey exclaimed in a sing song voice.

A giant can of bug spray materialized onto the field, held by a floating hand. I clamped my hands over my ears as the spider-woman let out a screech, it sounded like a person dragging their nails down a chalkboard. Joey pumped his fist in the air, "Yeah! There goes my pest problem," he said, grinning.

"What have you done to my queeeeeeen?"

"But wait, I'm not through wit you yet, Weavile Underpants. Gearfried destroy his last egg and the rest of his life points!"

The onyx black iron knight charged across the field and with one swing of his sword, slashed the egg. Yay Joey! I mentally cheered, clapping at his win.

"Welcome to loserville, population you!" Joey said, walking over to Weavile and held out his hand expectantly, "Alright Weavile cough em up, your insect queen and two locater cards."

"Have mercy," Weavile replied, sinking to the ground.

"Mercy? No way" Joey shook his head and held up his index finger, "You should have thought about that _before_ you decided to cheat. Now just like in Duelist Kingdom, you're out of the tournament." The runner up at Duelist Kingdom snatched the cards out of the midget's hand and added them to his deck.

I wanted to go over and congratulate him, but I felt too nervous and shy to walk over. Instead I stood rooted to my spot, some few feet away, clapping lightly, hoping he'd turn around and come over to me. It's probably because I didn't know him that I was feeling shy, that or the fact that it was Joey Wheeler.

Turn around, turn around, turn around, I chanted over and over, staring intensely at the blonde's back, believing that if I stared hard enough, he'd actually turn around. Finally after five minutes of intense staring to the point of where I was afraid I might pop my eye or something, Tea motioned with her hand towards me.

"Huh?" he turned around, "Oh hey Allie." the blonde grinned and ran over, "Whatcha doin here?"

"Che," I muttered under my breath, "I was just passing by. Congratulations on your win by the way," Finally I got to congratulate him. Now I could continue on.

Joey chuckled and scratched his head absentmindedly, "You saw me kick Weavile Underpant's butt?"

"Not the whole thing. Just the end." I grinned.

"And how about you, Allie?" Joey asked, turning around and waving for his friends to come over, "Guys, dis is Allie. We met yesterday,"

"Hi, I'm Tea," an over friendly brunette said, holding out her hand, "It's nice to meet you."

I looked at Tea for a moment, she was never my favorite person, but maybe now that I was here, she wouldn't seem so naive and stupid. I accepted her handshake, "Allie Grey. Nice ta meet ya too, Tea."

"This," Joey pointed to a boy with a very pointy hairdo, "Is my man, Tristan."

"Hi." I said.

"Hey Allie, so you're a duelist too?" he noted, his brown eyes resting on the duel disk on my wrist.

I chuckled nervously, "I don't think my skills meet the definition of a duelist," I joked.

"Nonsense Allie," spoke up a third person, one who I hadn't noticed until now: Solomon Moto.

"Yeah Ag," Joey added.

I arched a brow, "Ag?" I pondered the nickname.

"They're the initials of your name," he clarified.

A small smile spread across my face, "Yes I know," I laughed. Inside I could feel myself jumping for joy, I had a nickname. It took all my will power not to grab Joey and swing him around. Maybe later though.

"Anyways Ag, you're still putting yourself down?" Joey frowned, "Get some self confidence, would ya?" he exclaimed, "C'mon we're gonna find you someone to duel right now," Joey stated determinedly.

"No," I squeaked, "I-I already battled someone,"

Joey whipped around, "Ya did? And?"

"I-I won," I mumbled.

"So what's with the gloomy attitude, Ag?" he demanded.

"Joey!" Tea snapped. I gave the girl a grateful look, Joey's aura was a little scary at the moment; he was seriously fired up, "Don't scare Allie. If she doesn't want to battle, don't make her!" Tea growled, cuffing him on the ear.

"What? Oh sorry Ag," the blonde apologized, "I guess I got a little carried away. But anyways how come ya seem so bummed out about your win?"

I let out a sigh and explained the annoying tragedy that happened, "-and so the dork ran off because he was a sore loser."

"Whaa?" exclaimed Joey, "That little snake."

"Yeah exactly," I agreed, "And I chased him down the street but he disappeared in a massive crowd of people. And that's when I ran into Yugi-"

"You saw Yugi?" Tea interjected, her voice coated with concern.

"How's my grandson doing?" Solomon asked.

"Yug?"

"Yugi?"

Out of the four outbursts, I only chose to reply to the first two, "Yes, I saw Yugi." I said, looking at Tea. I turned to the oldest Moto, "He's doing fine. He helped me look around for the slimy weasel and then we sat down at a nearby cafe and discussed…uh strategies," Nope I can't tell them what really happened, I'll leave that to Yami.

"Strategies?" Solomon echoed.

"Yeah because I need all the help I can get," Please let that be a Yugi-ish thing to do, I prayed. I would tell them eventually the entire truth but now was definitely not the time.

"Cafe?"

Of course Joey would only hear the food part.

"Speaking of cafes, I am so hungry right now, I could eat my body weight in cheese burgers,"

"Eww that is so gross Joey," Tea commented.

"Agreed," I teased.

"Hey, I just won a duel. I have earned da right to eat whatever I want witout judgement. Let's go get some food!" Joey began to march off in the direction I had just come from.

I leaned over to Tea, "Uhh does he know where he's going?"

"No, but usually he never does,"

We laughed. Tea's alright I guess, just as long as she doesn't open her mouth to do her version of the friendship speech, then we might have a problem.

"Hey Joey, wait for us," We called out, running after him. At some point, once we had caught up to Joey, my ankle started to act up again. Please pick somewhere to eat today Joey, I thought sarcastically, subconsciously glaring at the blonde who seemed to have a very specific place he wanted to eat at.

"Joey how long are you going to make us walk?" Tea complained, "I'm losing all feeling in my feet."

I glanced down at her feet and mentally laughed. It was a wonder how she made it this far walking in high heeled sandals.

"Yeah man, would you just pick a place." Tristan snapped.

"Don't rush me, Tristan," Joey retorted, swinging his head around to glare at him. "It's around here somewhere," he muttered to himself.

I trotted up and fell into step with Joey, "What exactly are you…" I winced and bit down on my lower lip to stop myself from crying out, "-looking for," I forced the last two words out and then clamped my mouth shut as I mentally began to howl in pain.

Joey flashed a glance in my direction, "According to some duelist I over heard, dere's dis restaurant place dat has a free food buffet for all duelist who entered Battle City," he explained.

I perked up at 'free food', okay so I could deal with my pain for a little while longer. I haven't eaten since I arrived here and I all I had was a couple of brownies. And I wasn't able to eat with Yugi. Bring on the free food.

"Ah ha!" Joey suddenly exclaimed, "Dis is da place, guys."

"It's a diner," Tristan observed, "We passed like a dozen of those."

I spun around on my good foot, "Yeah but it's got a free food buffet for all duelist," I said, emphasizing the 'free food' part.

"Alright, lead the way Joey." Tristan grinned, slapping the boy on his shoulder.

Joey muttered something incoherent under his breath and then walked inside. Once inside we first had show proof that we were duelist, as if the giant piece of junk on our arms wasn't proof enough, we flashed the waiters our locater cards. We were placed in a booth seat in the corner by the window. Both Joey and Tristan went off to pile their plates with heaps of food.

"There aren't a lot of duelists here," I said looking around at the nearly empty diner.

"They must all be still battling each other, just like my grandson," Solomon replied with a proud tone, returning with a sandwich on his plate.

I cocked my head to the side as I asked, "But don't they need to sleep?"

"It's a race against time, Allie. There are only eight places for Kaiba's tournament. They don't have time to rest."

"But what about Joey then?" I pondered as I removed Kaiba's device from my arm. I rolled my wrist from side to side and wiggled my fingers.

Tea smiled, "Joey's already got four locater cards. He just needs two more and then he qualifies for the quarter finals."

I dropped the subject and left to get food just as the two boys returned back to the table. All thoughts and worries disappeared at the sight of unlimited amounts of food. I grabbed the biggest plate available and worked my way down the buffet, piling as much food as I could.

"Whoa, that's a lot of food,"

I shrugged, picking up a slice of watermelon, "I'm hungry. Haven't eaten since yesterday."

The brunette slid out allowing me to take her spot by the window. This was nice, being able to eat with the gang and it was way better than walking around by myself.

_Slifer the Sky Dragon has been awakened._

I choked on the bit of grilled cheese I had been chewing. "T-thanks," I spluttered as Tea patted me firmly on the back.

"No problem,"

What do you want? I mentally growled.

_It is in your best interest to meet him._

Can't you see I'm eating? I'll go later, now get out of my head before I hurt you, I warned the ancient spirit.

"Ag, yoo-hoo, anybody home?" a brooklyn accent broke into my thoughts.

I opened my eyes to find everybody giving me bizarre looks. I chuckled, "Hehe, sorry I guess I spaced out for a moment." I resumed munching on my sandwich, tuning out completely to their conversation as I was being forced to have one of my own. 'And exactly why do I need to meet him?' I asked.

_You bear a symbol of Slifer the Sky Dragon. It is only natural you thank him._

Damn, I had totally forgotten about the small gold pendant that hung low around my neck. My hand moved on its own, fingers tracing the Eye of Horus. 'Why do I have the feeling you're not telling me something' I said.

_Now is not the time to ask questions, Allie._

Is there ever going to be a time? I replied sarcastically. There was no response. I guess I had no choice then. I looked at the rest of my food I still had yet to eat. It wasn't fair. I was _so_ hungry and now I had to run off and talk to a dragon, which by the way, isn't even real.

_Slifer the Sky Dragon is more real than you think._

Okay you, you're supposed to be gone, I snapped. Oh yes but before you go, Shadi, I have just one teensy tiny problem- I have other people with me. I can't just get up and leave, that would be rude and I am not going to be rude to the only friends I have here. So Mr. Smarty Pants, if you want me to go and meet Slifer, you're going to have to figure out a way to distract everyone.

There was no reply.

"Hey check this out," Tea spoke up, pointing to the glass window.

I turned my head to see a flyer stuck to the window.

"Isn't that Mako Tsunami?" Joey exclaimed, rising from his seat.

You've got to be kidding me.

Tristan pressed his face to the glass, "It looks like he's preforming at the Domino Aquarium," he said, reading the flyer.

"We should go and check it out," Tea suggested.

"Alright, yeah let's go."

Once outside, I bid the group farewell, "Sorry guys, but this is where we part. I'm going to continue searching for that purple haired idiot."

Joey grinned, placing a hand on my shoulder, "And while you're at it Ag, try and win a few battles."

I snorted and shook my head, turning around and walking away.

"Hey Ag! Let's meet at Battle City Finals!" I heard Joey call out. I raised my arm in response, not looking back. I knew where Yugi was dueling but I didn't know _where_ Yugi was dueling. Suddenly a giant gust of wind blasted my way, hurling little pieces of trash at me along with other stuff. Great Mother Nature is laughing at me, I thought with annoyance. "Ow" I exclaimed as an empty can promptly hit me on the head. The wind continued to hit me with extreme force.

"My card!"

Oh of all the rotten luck! This is probably why I shouldn't keep my cards in my pocket. I began to chase after my card, jumping for it every time it seemed within my reach, but just at the last second the wind would lift it higher. Now Mother Nature is making fun of my height. I hate my luck.

"Gimme…my…card…back!" I said aloud, jumping with every word. The card flipped over, it was my Chaos Command Magician. No no no no no that was not a card I could afford to lose for multiple reasons, one being it was Sam's card and another it was a good card. Oh my gosh when will the wind die? I thought as the card started to get ahead of me. I looked in front of me to see the road was coming to an end. "Oh please, wind, stop."

I had to pick up my pace in order to keep up with my Chaos Command Magician. The road was becoming shorter and shorter, I was running out of space to run on. I leapt one more time. "Yes!" I shouted as I managed to grab the edge of my card.

SMACK.

"Ompf."

I have really got to work on my landings. Yes, that sound would be me once again kissing the ground. Now the world was upside-down and I'm seeing stars. Ooh what's that giant red thing I see? I blinked and flipped myself over.

"No way," I whispered in awe. I peered down at my Chaos Command Magician- wait was he smirking at me? I brought the card closer to my face, nah I must have imagined it. I placed him back with my other cards and then slipped my deck into my duel disk- that should hold them. Oddly enough the wind had stopped harassing me.

I got slowly to my feet, enchanted by the almighty dragon. Cautiously I walked over, keeping my eyes on Slifer the entire time. The dragon reared its head back and let out a giant ball of energy. It repeated the same action over and over until finally he hit the ground. I cringed in sympathy, I knew exactly how he was probably feeling at the moment. I gazed at the beast and for a moment it seemed we made eye contact.

I blinked and he disappeared.

* * *

**Thanks: Auqa girl 007**, **Yamiheart** lol I screwed up the battle, which is why you got confused, lol my bad, **YankeeSamson**, **Darquesse**, **Animefreak32541**, **EgyptianSoul88** and **alexanimelvr** lol thanks you totally saved me ;D

**Review**

**No Flames**

**Happy Late New Year!**

**ZTL**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or it's characters.**

**A/N: **See I told you I would update fast :) I don't think there's much to say this chapter. I'm already working on the next one. I have so many ideas that I need to write down before I forget. Ooh I must warn you all that this chapter is not one of Allie's finest moments. Oh and when Allie says pretty she means hott, but hopeful you guys already know that. Anyways thanks for all the awesome reviews, they made me really happy! Okay enjoy ^^

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

A Painful Truth

The duel was over, Yami being the winner- of course.

I jumped down, my sneakers sliding along the concrete slope. I nearly collided with another person who decided to jump at the same time as me, but at the last second, I pivoted and avoided crashing into him. A burning sensation seared in my ankle as I spun on it. But I'd rather be in pain than face Kaiba's wrath.

"Allie?" Yami acknowledged with a hint of surprise.

I stumbled as I neared the bottom, almost falling flat on my face, but I managed to balance myself out. I threw the king of games a grin, "Yup the one and only."

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to find you" -_err well really Slifer, but you don't need to know that_. God I hate lying to Yami. Stupid Shadi, when will I be able to tell him the truth?

Yami cocked his head slightly to the side, "Me? Why?"

Because you're very pretty and I would rather follow you around than Joey or any other person for that matter…oh maybe Bakura, he's pretty too. Yup I definitely can't tell him that. I opened my mouth and then closed it, unable to think of a logical reason, "…" I was saved from having to answer by the arrival of Mokuba.

"Slifer the Sky Dragon is awesome," he said looking thoughtfully at the card in his hand, "I wish Seto and I could keep it but as Commissioner of the Battle City tournament I have to hand this card over to you, Yugi- and you earned it. And that's not all, you get his locater card also," Mokuba handed over the two cards, "Just don't get too attached because my brother's got his eye on that dragon too, so watch out."

I walked up to Yami as he mumbled to himself, "I must be careful with this," he said, tuning out to his surroundings.

"Yami you need to relax," I said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He jumped a bit making me feel very foolish, "You just won a really powerful card. Take a moment to breathe, otherwise you're going to completely lose it." I warned him.

"A-are you Allison Grey by any chance?" Mokuba spoke up.

We both looked at him.

"Yes?" I replied hesitantly.

A grin lit up across his face. Mokuba reached into his pocket and retrieved two more cards; a duel monsters card and a locater card. "Here," he said, extending his hand out, "These cards rightfully belong to you."

I was stunned, my eyes turning round as saucers as I gaped at the cards in front of me. I glanced at Yami, unsure if this was some kind of joke. The blonde nodded his head, "Go on Allie," he said, "You won the duel, those are your cards now."

I returned my gaze back to Mokuba and with a shaky hand I slowly accepted the cards. I turned the monster card over and furrowed my brows. I had no idea what this monster was. "Which card is this one?" I asked out loud.

Yami peered over my shoulder and told me, "That would be Amazoness Queen. If you have any card with Amazoness in its title on the field while this card is on the field then those cards cannot be destroyed," he explained.

Oh, well that ability will never come in handy.

"Allie are you crying?" Yami asked with concern.

I shook my head, covering my face with my arm, "N-no," I mumbled. I was so happy, "I just poked myself in the eye, that's all." I wiped away the tears with the sleeve of my jacket and beamed up at Yami flashing him the victory sign.

"I hate to break up this happy moment," interrupted Kaiba as he walked over. He made eye contact with Yami, "Yugi," he said, "So you've figured out how to defeat Slifer the Sky Dragon. Well done."

Now I know how Joey feels every time he crosses paths with Kaiba. The rich bastard was completely ignoring me, in fact I don't think he even knows I'm here. How rude! I sent Kaiba a glare, but his attention was solely directed at Yami.

"It's a real shame you won't have it for to long." Kaiba smirked.

"Why not?" Yami growled, not backing down from rich boy's intimidating glare.

"Because you and I are going to duel for it right now. Then when I defeat you, Slifer the Sky Dragon will be where it belongs, in my deck." He paused for effect, "You see I'm already in possession of one Egyptian God card and I plan to win the others. Now its time to duel. Once I win Slifer from you, I'll only need one more, then I'll be the number one duelist in the world."

Will Kaiba ever learn? I wondered rolling my eyes at him. "Hey guys, I hate to interrupt your little pow wow moment, but look." I said pointing ahead of me.

The fallen goth mime had risen and he let out an evil laugh, "_Silly fools."_

"I've had enough of your mind tricks, Marik! It's time for you to show yourself." Yugi interrupted.

"_Not to worry Pharaoh, you'll meet me sooner than you think. I'm on my way to Battle City as we speak. Once I'm there, the next phase of my plan begins. I assure you the power of the Pharaoh will be mine! My loyal mind servants are preparing for my arrival right now._

"Where are they Marik?" Yami demanded, advancing forward.

_"I have rare hunters everywhere in Battle City. And I can see all. I see the Millennium Puzzle that will be mine. I see a defenseless city waiting to be conquered and I see potential mind slaves in every crowd. I'm always searching for new servants to add to my army of rare hunters. I wonder who'll be next?_" the mime laughed, a warped voice leaving his mouth.

I always hated mimes.

"_-so tell me Pharaoh, which of your friends would make the best mind slave? Tea? Joey perhaps?_" Marik pondered mockingly.

Yami narrowed his violet orbs, "You leave them alone, understand? I'm warning you." he said.

"_Well it appears I've hit your sensitive spot Pharaoh. Hmm maybe I'll even use her," _the mime said, pointing his index finger towards Yami's direction, "_to get what I want, namely your Millennium Puzzle._"

Yami shifted his body so the goth mime, Strings- I think his name was, was almost obscured from my view. It hit me then, that Marik was talking about me. I darted out from behind the ancient spirit, "Do you even know my name?" I raised a brow and gave Marik's puppet a defiant glare. I'm really getting tired of being addressed so informally. If Marik was going to talk about me, while I was standing right in front of him, then the least he could do was learn my name. After all he knew Tea's and Joey's.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to talk to strangers?" I heard Kaiba mutter condescendingly under his breath.

"You!" I hissed, "Didn't your mother ever teach you to install a clock in your duel disks?" I retorted, gesturing to said machinery.

Kaiba chuckled, "That didn't even make any sense."

I glared at him.

"_Allie_,"

I turned my head, "What?" I asked, annoyed, forgetting for a moment just who I was talking to.

The mime smirked, "_That is your name, is it not?_"

I opened my mouth to retort but came up with nothing. Damn Marik, how did he know?

"Marik," Yami interjected, catching his attention, "It's me you want, so leave my friends out of this. I'm warning you."

Strings laughed, not bothered by Yami's threat at all, "_Or else you'll what, Pharaoh? You're friends are meaningless to me. Besides I have nothing to lose and the whole world to gain_." Strings laughed manically, only enraging the five thousand year old spirit.

"Do not test me." he warned, his voice full of anger, "If any harm befalls my friends you will regret it Marik. They did nothing to you, so you settle your score with me."

"_Just as my dragon's one weakness destroyed it, your loyalty to your friends will destroy you_," Strings finished and then fell forward, limp and lifeless once again.

"Marik no!" Yami exclaimed, curling his hand into a fist in frustration, "I must save them. Allie let's go." the Pharaoh said, casting me a quick glance. I nodded my head, following closely behind him.

"Hey get back here right now!"

Yami abruptly stopped, turning around to give Kaiba an annoyed look, "Our duel will have to wait Kaiba. My friends are in great danger and their safety is more important to me than anything in this world." he stated firmly

Kaiba folded his arms, "Running away from a challenge is against tournament rules," he said, his blue orbs narrowed.

I found this piece of information surprising. Really? Well then I had broken that rule like five times already. I shook my head, now was not the time for joking around. I glanced at Yami, he clearly did not want to battle Kaiba. I frowned at the brown haired duelist, "Have a sense of compassion Kaiba. You'd be doing the exact same thing if some lunatic threatened Mokuba. Yugi is not running away from this duel, he's just, " crap I can't think of a cool word, "- he's just…"

"Just what?" Kaiba smirked.

I sighed, glaring at him, "Urg..You know what he has to do!" I turned to Yami sending him apologetic look. Why do I always do embarrassing things in front of him? I don't act stupidly when I'm with Joey- or maybe that's because Joey acts stupider than myself so it makes me seem more smart. Oh my god, now that's an unpleasant thought.

Yami nodded his head and then we started running. Oh yes exactly what a girl with a sprained ankle should be doing.

"We should head to the Domino Aquarium," I said after some point of running. Yes, I probably should have spoken up earlier, but Yami kind of scared me.

"Why's that?" Yami replied, his violet orbs flashing behind him.

"Because that's where they're headed," I answered simply.

The ancient spirit came to a halt and I doubled over, completely out of breath. I rested my hands on my knees and gasped for air, glancing up at Yami through my bangs.

"How do you know?" Yami questioned with an underlying tone, almost like when he was questioning me before. I bet he's thinking I know for the reasons I can't tell him.

I took in another breath of air, "Because that's where Mako Tsunami is."

He arched a blonde brow.

"Because Joey wants to duel him and because I was just with them right before I found you so I know where they're going!" I said and then began gasping for air. I glared up at him, daring him to question me. Once I had finally caught my breath we began running again, only this time at a slower pace. Now that Yami knew where his friends were, he seemed to have calmed down a bit. I followed Yami in silence- I think he was mad at me, but I couldn't tell. We turned right to see two rare hunters standing in our path.

"Going somewhere?" the fat one sneered, "If you'd like to rescue your friends, you'll have to make it past us first-"

"-and that's no easy task." the other one finished.

"Listen carefully, I will get past!" Yami growled angrily, his voice rising.

"Sorry but I'm afraid the only way to get by us is to defeat us in a duel." the short one explained.

"-a two on two duel." the teal haired rare hunter said.

Two? I frowned, who was the second duelist for Yami? There were two rare hunters and Yami, how do you get a fair duel out of that?

"Allie, get ready," I heard Yami mutter as he activated his duel disk.

I nodded my head, oh so Yami's partner was Allie, who was that? Wait a second, rewind. I'm Allie. I did a double take as I gaped at the king of games, my jaw wide open. Yami wanted me to what? I looked at the rare hunters, they were referring to me? Oh no, I couldn't possibly duel with Yami, I'd screw up for sure. My win against _that_ guy was just a fluke. If I partnered up with Yami, he'd just be wasting his cards saving me. No.

"W-what?" I asked, hesitantly, letting out a nervous chuckle, "You're joking, right?" I glanced fearfully at the rare hunters and then back at Yami.

"No, I'm very serious," he replied grimly, "If we want to find Joey and the others, then we must defeat these two in a duel. You can do this Allie, I trust you."

But, even if I did duel with you, it would still be like a two on one duel. You're not supposed to lose your Millennium Puzzle to these guys and if I duel with you, there's a slight chance you might. That's what I wanted to tell him, but for some reason the words just got caught in my throat and I wasn't able to say anything.

"Allie, time is of the essence," Yami said quietly, "So please."

"I-I can't," I whispered, shaking my head, "I'm so sorry."

"How you managed to win a duel amazes me. You're worse than Wheeler. You're a coward."

"Kaiba?" Yami gasped in surprise.

Oh good, Kaiba was here, he'd do a much better job in helping Yami out, than I ever could. I cast my gaze downward to the street unable to face Yami; my face was hot with humiliation and shame. I felt absolutely horrible. I choked.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a duelist. I hope you don't go around calling yourself a duelist." Kaiba rebuked, stopping in front of me.

Yes I know that, I replied silently.

"Kaiba," Yami's voice cut in, "Leave Allie alone. She's done nothing wrong."

"Hn." Kaiba muttered as he activated his duel disk, "Alright Yugi, let's defeat these rare hunters."

Yami nodded his head.

"It's time to duel."

* * *

**Thanks: YankeeSamson** oh my gosh are you lucky. I am so not looking forward to studying. The SAT scares the crap out of me xD, **alexanimelvr**, **xXPeaceBabesXx **ooh how did you battle against Joey?, **Animefreak32541**, **EgyptainSoul88**, **Renji's-Chicka**, **ha**, **Yamiheart **I know right! Shadi is seriously annoying ;D

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N: **Wow my chapters just keep getting longer and longer. I have so many ideas. Although as soon as they get on the blimp, I'm really going to have to think what's going to happen, cause there is no way in hell I'm writing those ridiculously long duel scene xp Once again I update super fast xD The next chapter will be out by tomorrow. OMG I was checking out everybody's profile and Yami is apparently 15! 00 And I was like wtf, it's illegal to look that hot and be only 15. And Allie's 17, so that already makes her two years older than him! Like that's going to happen! LOL. So anyways I'm definitely changing everyone's ages. Yugi/Yami- 17 (it's strange cause absolute anime says yugi's 16 but yami's 15 lol), Tea-16 Joey and Tristan- 17 Duke- 18 Serenity-15 (I freaked out when I saw she was only 13! I thought she was 16) kaiba-19, Bakura-18, Marik-17 and a half. Anyways on another note, I was watching Yugioh and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Battle City preliminaries happen all in one day. Yeah that's not going to happen in this story xp Enjoy ^^

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Intervention

While Yami and Kaiba began to duel, I settled myself against the wall, drawing my knees close to me and curling my head downward. I felt so awful and I was so disgusted with myself. I had choked. Even Tea wouldn't have chickened out if Yami had asked her to duel with him. She would have given it her best shot without hesitation- and she's not even a duelist. I suck. I was a coward. And I was pathetic and whatever else Kaiba had called me.

"Oh c'mon, cheer up Allie. My big brother and Yugi will defeat those rare hunters in about a second."

And it really didn't help that Mokuba was trying the lighten the mood up, because he was failing and he was only reminding me about what a horrible person I am. Where's a rock that I can climb under or a hole I can fall into so that I never have to show my face to Yugi ever again?

I hugged myself even tighter, "I suck," I mumbled.

Mokuba sat down next to me, "Allie it doesn't matter anymore," he said, tilting his head so we were face to face, "Because everything's gonna be alright now."

I know that, but that still didn't make me feel any better. God, why couldn't I have just said yes like any other normal person? Why did I have to think. I act recklessly without thinking all the time. If Joey had asked me, I probably would've said yes. Why do I always make a fool out of myself in front of Yugi? He's been nothing but helpful to me and I can't even do one simple thing for him.

"Allie, there's no reason to still be moping," a firm hand was placed on my shoulder, "What's done is done, there's nothing you can do to change it."

I gave mini Kaiba a dark look.

"I have an idea," Mokuba announced, standing up, "I know a way we can help Seto and Yugi."

I perked up at the mention of 'help' and 'Yugi', "I'm listening."

"While they're battling the rare hunters, we can go and track Joey." the thirteen year old explained.

But I already know where he is and so does Yugi. I humored Mokuba anyways by saying, "And how do you suppose we're going to do that?" I asked sarcastically.

He pointed to a metal briefcase, "I can use the laptop to track Joey's duel disk with Kaiba Corp's satellites."

I shrugged, glancing at the battle, the pair were doing fine. "Okay, I guess so," I reluctantly agreed, rising from the ground. And this way I had an excuse to not have to face Yami.

"Alright, great," Mokuba said, grinning, "And think of it as killing two birds with one stone-"

I don't actually want visualize that metaphor thank you very much.

"-so when my big brother and Yugi defeat the rare hunters, we can tell them exactly where Joey and the others are."

I nodded my head and gave him a thumbs up, "Great plan," I told him with heavy sarcasm.

I followed Mokuba, only glancing once behind me to watch the duel. "Where exactly are we going?" I wondered aloud as we started walking away.

"We're just going to the top of that building," Mokuba stated casually, pointing to a tall building across from our current location, "Yeah, in order the best signal, we need to be in a high place. It's sort of a flaw with the duel disk tracking system- but don't tell my brother," he added.

I laughed, "I won't."

"Allie," Mokuba spoke up as we crossed the street, "About what my brother said earlier, it's not true."

I raised a skeptical brow, "No, your bro is right. I'm a coward, not being able to team up with Ya- err Yugi. It was pathetic and I really do have no right to call myself a duelist." I gave Mokuba a halfhearted smile as I looked ahead. Kaiba's words rang vibrantly in my head. I placed a hand on Mokuba's back and pushed him the last few feet as a car whizzed by.

"But it's not true, Allie," Mokuba insisted, holding the door open for me as we entered what appeared to be a mall. "It's okay for a person to get scared because duel monsters is a tough game to play. It takes real skill and nerve. You've already won a duel, doesn't that say anything to you at all?"

I glanced at Mokuba affectionately, he really reminded me of Sam. They both had the same optimistic, annoying, happy-go-lucky attitude.

"Yeah it says, fluke, in giant capital letters," I joked.

"Allie, I'm serious," Mokuba groaned, "The most important thing a duelist needs when playing the game is confidence. If you're confident about yourself, you've already won half the battle. Then the rest of the battle depends on how you play your cards," he shook his head as he strayed off topic, "But the point is, be confident about your skills."

"Okay…mom," I teased the younger Kaiba.

"Hey!" he replied, making a face.

I shrugged.

"Allie, have you eaten anything yet?" the raven haired boy asked.

Well sort of, before I was rudely interrupted by one really annoying spirit. "Kind of," I said vaguely.

"Wanna get some ice-cream before we track down Joey?" Mokuba grinned.

"You have money on you?" I replied, "Cause I don't."

He laughed, "This building belongs to Kaiba Corp. And as CAO of Kaiba Corp that means free ice-cream."

I gaped at him, my jaw hitting the floor, "Lucky!" I exclaimed. Unlimited ice-cream for free? Now that's the life.

"C'mon, it's this way," Mokuba said, leading me up two flights of escalators.

I got mint chocolate-chip in a cup while Mokuba ordered plain cookie-dough.

"This is nice," he commented as we rode up to the roof in the elevator.

I popped a spoonful of the holy ice-cream into my mouth, "What's nice?" I inquired, glancing down at him.

"This," he replied, raising his ice-cream, "It's been a long time since I've eaten ice-cream with someone."

"What about your brother?"

Mokuba let out a sigh, "Seto doesn't eat ice-cream, he absolutely hates it," the corners of his lips turned upwards in a snicker.

Huh, so rich boy does have a flaw. "How can he not like ice-cream?" I demanded, very interested in the conversation.

The CAO shrugged, "Dunno. He just doesn't. Whenever I offer him some, he always makes up an excuse like 'I've got work to do' or 'It's bad for your health', stuff like that."

I chuckled, "You're brother's a freak, you know that right?"

"Tell me about it. In fact it's not just ice-cream, it's all sweets. Seto won't touch them." Mokuba confessed, chuckling along with me.

At this piece of information, I accidentally inhaled my ice-cream and began to choke. After a few hard pats, and a couple of deep breaths, I broke out into laughter, "That is seriously funny. So what do you guys eat for dessert then?"

"Fruits mostly, sometimes nuts."

"That's not right."

The elevator made a 'ding' sound indicating we had reached the top. We stepped out and walked to the center where Mokuba set down his briefcase and opened it up. While Mokuba set up, I wandered over towards the railing and looked down. Well that was very stupid of me. "Whoa," I exclaimed, falling backwards. Right, I forgot I had a fear of heights. I got back up on my feet and rested my arms on the railing, looking straight ahead of me and not down.

A giant figure caught my attention and it kind of reminded me of The Hulk, but only bigger and turquoise colored. "Hey, I think your brother just played Obelisk," I observed.

Mokuba shot his head up, "You know about the Egyptian God Cards too?"

"Uhh…yes?" I answered quickly.

The teen furrowed his brows together, "And I thought only Yugi, my brother and I knew about them,"

"Word spreads fast," I said.

"Oh well, those rare hunters are in for it now. There's no way they can win against an Egyptian God Card," with that said, Mokuba went back to work on his computer and I continued to watch the battle. A few seconds later Obelisk disappeared signifying the duel was over, Yami and Kaiba being the winners. I walked back over to Mokuba and sat down cross-legged.

"Got it," Mokuba exclaimed.

I peered over his shoulder to see a detailed map of Domino on his screen.

"Seto come in," Mokuba said into a very tiny mic, "According to our satellite tracking system Joey is at the Domino Aquarium."

I could have told him that.

"Yeah Allie's with me, why?" the younger Kaiba wore a confused expression, "She's fine. Alright, I'll meet you there."

"So where are we headed now?"

"We're going to meet up with Yugi and my brother at the aquarium," Mokuba frowned, after he ended the conversation, and began pressing buttons on his computer.

My grin faltered, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"We have a problem, Joey's duel disk just stopped transmitting a signal to the satellite system," he replied grimly.

That's odd unless…"The rare hunters!" I gasped, shaking Mokuba, "They must have just gotten to Joey. You have to tell your brother right away." I said urgently.

Mokuba nodded his head.

"I don't think so!" a voice called out, followed by laughter.

We whipped around to see three rare hunters, blocking the only exit. Oh are we screwed. Instantly I pulled Mokuba behind me on instinct, my protective older sister genes kicking in. "Stay behind me," I murmured quietly, trying not to move my lips, "And when you see a chance, run, understand?"

"But what about you?"

I shook my head, "I'll be right behind you." I said. Chances were very low of me being able to follow him. I was terrified. What the hell could I possibly do? These guys were serious and there were three of them. I'm no Bruce Lee.

"Seto come in," I heard Mokuba whisper frantically.

One of the rare hunters chuckled, "Sorry kid, but your big brother isn't going to be able to help you. We've jammed all incoming and outgoing signals."

Well that's really not good.

They started to advance forward with a menacing expression and with every step they took forward, we took backwards until our backs were literally pressed up against the wall.

"What are we going to do Allie?" Mokuba asked. I could detect fear in his tone.

The trio were closing in on us with every passing second. I really needed to come up with a plan. Think Allie! My eyes darted around wildly, looking for anything that might be of use. They settled on Mokuba's briefcase.

"Can I borrow that?" I muttered, jerking my head at the metal case.

"Sure, but why?" he handed it over.

"Is this thing replaceable?" I didn't have time to answer his question.

"Yeah, Kaiba Corp has hundreds of them."

Rich bastard.

"Okay when I give the signal, run, you got that?" I said, my eyes narrowing as the rare hunters were only feet away.

"Yes."

Almost there, just a little bit longer, I thought, biting my lip in order to stay calm. Okay now! I kicked one of the rare hunters as hard as could in the shin while swinging the metal case into another one's head. Yes my baseball skills were still intact.

"Run," I yelled, as I kneed the last one in the crotch.

He bolted over towards the elevator and frantically began pressing the down button. Opps well that is one very horrible setback that I did not think of. I leapt over the fallen rare hunters and joined Mokuba over on the other side. I glanced behind me to see out of the three, only one was unconscious; the other two were on the ground in pain, but they were struggling to get up. Mokuba repeatedly pressed the down button while at the same time trying to call Kaiba.

Ding.

Yes it's here! As soon as the door opened though, a fourth rare hunter stepped out and he was even bigger and scarier than the other three.

"Going somewhere?" he challenged, folding his arms and standing in front of the elevator.

I recognized the fourth rare hunter immediately, he was Marik's most loyal servant and guardian, Odion. I sized him up, wondering if he would double over if I kneed him in the crotch too. I pulled Mokuba by his shirt behind me once more. I don't care if the odds were against me, this wasn't a duel, and I was going fight back. I'm no coward.

Okay, here goes nothing Allie, I told myself. I ran at the stoic rare hunter with intentions of knocking him down and hopefully unconscious. I may be a girl and I may only be 5'4, and I know that it's crazy of me to pick a fight with this guy, but I have to try. Great, where was this confidence when Yami asked me to team up with him? I thought sarcastically. Maybe it's because Mokuba reminds me so much of Sam that I'm acting out of natural reflex. Yeah that's probably it.

"I don't think so, Ms. Grey." Odion said.

The next thing I know, I'm being forcefully slammed into the elevator door, with Odion's giant hand clasped around my neck.

"That was a nice try," Odion belittled my attempt to attack him, "But today you're both my prey and you're not going to get away."

I wrapped both my hands around his wrist and tried to pry him off me, but there was little success. "Picking on a little boy and strangling a girl, you must be real proud of yourself," I managed to say, before his grip tightened, "I hope…you don't…call yourself…a man," I was starting to find it very hard to breathe and Odion was becoming a bit blurry.

"Get the boy, now." I heard Odion instruct.

Crap, Mokuba has nowhere to run.

One last idea hit me. I let go of Odion's wrist and distracted him with small talk. As I kept his attention on me, I began to inch my hand towards the down button. A little bit further, I told myself, stretching my hand out and wiggling my fingers, come on now Allie, you have to reach! I strained my hand, moving my body as much as I could without Odion figuring out what I was doing. Got it! I pressed the button and the doors opened. We both fell back, Odion completely surprised.

"Mokuba, come on!" I yelled, ignoring the pain in my head. "Close the door, hurry." I told him, as he jumped in, careful to avoid Odion.

Mokuba did exactly as I told him and hit the number 1 button.

"Well now what do you plan on doing Ms. Grey?, " Odion drawled, picking himself up and placing himself right in front of the door.

I stood up as well, giving him a fierce glare and motioned for Mokuba to stand in the corner. I glanced at the little digital screen, we were only on the thirty-fifth floor. I had trapped us with a rare hunter. But I had a plan. I grinned, "This," I said.

Odion arched a brow and frowned.

I pressed the number 33 button. The doors opened and I shoved Odion as hard as I could out the door. He fell back onto his bum and I waved good-bye, "It was nice meeting you, but we gotta run," I slammed my hand down on the 'door close' button and watched as the doors became a barrier between us and him.

Oh my god, I actually did something. I could hear my heart thumping loudly against my rib cage, beating with fear and excitement. I looked at Mokuba, a crazy grin on my face. He mirrored my expression and an 'o' shape formed on his mouth. But the running wasn't over yet. I began to press random buttons.

"Why are you doing that?" Mokuba asked, "We need to get to the first floor."

I nodded my head, "I know, but that's what Od- the rare hunter wants us to do. We're going to fool him and get out on a different floor and then take the stairs," I explained.

"Wow Allie, I can't believe you did that," he said, excitement flashing through his eyes, "That was so cool, the way you tricked that rare hunter. Are you okay?"

I rubbed the back of my head, I was definitely going to feel that tomorrow. "I'm fine."

The elevator stopped and we got out. I hit a couple of more random buttons before exiting. "Where are the stairs?" I asked, looking around the department. Mokuba pointed over to the back and I dragged him over there. I cautiously opened the door, listening for footsteps. Everything seemed alright so we entered the staircase and quietly headed down to the first floor.

"I told you Ms. Grey, you're my prey," a cool voice said.

I didn't need to look back to know who was behind me. I pulled Mokuba in front of me, "Run," I exclaimed, jumping down the stairs two at a top. I easily passed Mokuba, who was running at fast as he could. Odion was slowly walking down the stairs, like the predator in scary movies do when they're chasing people. "Only one more flight," I told Mokuba, "Can you jump the last flight of stairs?"

"Yeah."

We burst out the door, across the first floor and out the revolving doors. I didn't stop to see if Odion and his rare hunters were still chasing us. Grabbing Mokuba's hand, I pulled him through the busy street of Domino. The sky was darkening and night time was approaching. It's never good to be running from people at night.

"We're going to have to spilt up," I decided, coming to a halt. I winced as I stood. With all the adrenaline flowing through my body, it had covered up the pain in my ankle. But I was getting tired and starting to succumb to the pain. I gave shorter boy a sharp look, "Go back to Kaiba Corp and stay there okay? Don't stop for anything and god forbid they start to chase you, run into a crowded place where people can see you okay? They can't take you if there are people around. Got it?"

Mokuba nodded his head.

"And once you get back to Kaiba Corp, tell your brother and Yugi to go to Domino Pier." I added.

"What?"

"Trust me, that's where Joey and Tea are going to be."

"How do you-" he started to say.

"Look you gotta trust me, that's where they are." I snapped.

"Okay."

I watched as Mokuba ran off until he disappeared from my view. Focus Allie, you gotta get going. Hopefully, the rare hunters would chase after me and not Mokuba because in all honestly that kid did not stand a chance against them. I continued walking err limping down the street, completely lost. With no idea which way to go, I let my feet guide me whichever way they pleased. The surroundings were unfamiliar to me. After what seemed like hours of walking, I finally had to stop. Across from me stood a large building with almost the same architecture as the Parthenon, except there weren't any columns.

I felt a tugging sensation and glanced down to see the pendant glowing bright gold. At this point nothing could possibly surprise me. The pendant was hovering in the air and continued to tug, pointing in the direction of the building. If it weren't for the chain it was attached to, the pendant would probably be long gone by now. I shrugged, I had nowhere to go, so why not follow the magical item?

As I walked up the steps, the Millennium Item tugged harder. I frowned at it, "I'm walking as fast as I can," I told it, rolling my eyes. Once I reached the top, the heart shaped pendant fell limp, its golden shine gone.

"Hello Allison,"

I let out a shriek and jumped into the air out of surprise. For a minute I thought Odion had somehow found me again. Squinting at the figure in front of me, I realized it was a woman. She was dressed a creamy white dress with a gold collar and waistband. Two chains hung around her waist and around her neck was the Eye of Horus. She greatly resembled Cleopatra.

She was Ishizu Ishtar.

* * *

This chapter wasn't one of my favorites in my opinion because it was just interaction between Allie and Mokuba and well those two will never be a pair so why is she talking to him? Hopefully the end didn't seem to mary-sue-ish and the part where her pendant acts up, I hope that wasn't mary-sue-ish either. LOL xD

**Thanks, you guys are so nice ( : **

**YankeeSamson- **Thank god I'm not a senior otherwise I would be seriously screwed lol. I'm definitely going to take it more than once. But I wish I could get a high score the first time *sigh*

**Yamiheart- **I believe Marik knew her name either because he has the Millennium Rod or he heard, through his puppet, Mokuba say her name, or both, I'm not sure which.

**xXSilver MirrorsXx - **Lol I am so happy someone finally asked that. But I'm going to keep that a secret ;D because in the next few chapters Allie's finally going to get a chance to interact with

the other two Egyptian hotties *squeal*

**EgyptianSoul88**- He'd probably freak out and turn all red lol and then say 'Um thank you' I might just have her say that, later though :D

**NightSkyForLife- **I'm glad you found that funny. I was wondering if anybody would find that funny.

**alexanimelvr**- But it's Kaiba! He's never nice to anyone but Mokuba lol. Personally I don't think Kaiba was trying to be mean mean, it's just his default personality.

**Review!**

**The more the better :D**

**It truly makes me happy knowing that you guys really like this story.**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N: **Okay this chapter is definitely a filler. I didn't think it was going to be this long though. Hmm how did my day go today? I went to the dentist and he rubbed very nauseating toothpaste all over my teeth. Bleck. Thanks everyone for reviewing, you guys are just the best! Enjoy ^^

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

The Pharaoh's Knight

The Egyptian woman instructed me to follow her into a car and I did so without hesitation. Where we were going I didn't know. Why she wanted me to, I didn't care. All I knew and cared about was that Odion and his rare hunters couldn't get me. I was safe. The ride was silent as I set my view on the sights flashing by. I could feel the woman staring at me but she said nothing so I assumed that the talking would begin once we arrived, wherever we were going. The sleek black car pulled up in front of a large building, a great amount of light illuminated the entrance. I guessed by the people hanging inside, we were at a hotel.

A man in a black suit and shades greeted Ishizu as she walked through the sliding doors. He whispered something to her and I strained my ears to try and listen, but his voice was too soft to be heard. She nodded her head and then turned to me. I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I have just been informed that your friend, Mokuba Kaiba, has made it back to Kaiba Corp unharmed," she explained.

I let out a sigh of relief I didn't know I had been holding until just then. "Really?" I asked eagerly. That was probably the best thing anyone had said to me since I had gotten here…well no, Yami asking me to team up with him was, but right now, this was the best.

"All questions will be answered shortly, Allison," Ishizu said, moving forward.

I walked after her, "You can just call me Allie," I told her, grinning. I felt a lot better, mentally wise, knowing Mokuba was safe, I could breathe easier. Physically, I felt like shit. My body was aching from Odion and don't even get me started on my ankle. I'm surprised that I didn't have any severe injuries what with my jinxed luck- it must have something big planned for me later on. We entered another elevator, riding it all the way to the top. The doors opened straight into a suite and there standing by the windows was someone all too familiar.

"I believe you two have met already," the Egyptian woman stated calmly as she stepped out.

I stood warily in the archway, viewing Shadi with caution. I refused to move from my spot until Ishizu told me to sit down, over by Shadi. The ancient spirit followed my movements with his electric blue eyes, but never saying a word. The silence in this room was nerve wrecking and just plain awkward. I began to hum the theme song to Star Wars very dramatically to myself as I gazed out the window.

I received a very cold glare from the tomb keeper.

Ishizu finally returned, a tea cup in hand. She placed it down carefully in front of me and then sat down in the seat opposite me.

I gave the liquid inside the porcelain cup a bizarre stare as it was a murky green color, "What is this exactly?" I questioned as politely as possible, trying not to wrinkle my nose at the odd smell it was emitting.

"It's an ancient herbal tea, used for healing the body" the woman explained.

Oh, I had to drink this? Joy. "Yum," I chuckled nervously, flashing her a grin. I picked up the cup, dreading having to down it. I glanced at Ishizu one more time, "Okay, here I go, drinking the…" this could not be considered tea, more like slime or something, "-the drink," I finished lamely. I pressed the edge of the cup against my lips, there were no words to describe the smell. Just do it Allie, I told myself, it's not a lot, you can finish it in one swig. Close your eyes and pretend it's a milkshake. It's a milkshake, it's a milkshake, it's a- OH MY GOD THIS IS NOT A MILKSHAKE!

I pinched my leg very hard in order to keep myself from spitting the 'herbal tea' out all over Ishizu.

"Oh I should warn you, it's a bit bitter," said woman added with a light smile playing at her lips.

Ya think? The liquid burned my throat as I gulped it down. Not only was it extremely bitter but it had a spicy after taste which lingered in my mouth. I glared at her, "When you said it was an ancient herbal tea, just how old were you talking?" I drawled sarcastically. There is no way that stuff was used for healing the body, the smell alone was enough kill someone.

"Allison, my Millennium Necklace allows me to see events yet to come," Ishizu began," But your arrival was something unforeseen to me."

Yeah it was unforeseen to me too. I glanced at Shadi but the spirit only made me feel more uncomfortable.

"Do you know what it is that you wear around your neck?" her deep blue orbs traveled down to the pendant that hung loosely around my neck.

I furrowed my brows, trying to recall what Shadi had said to me. "Something to do with Slifer the Sky Dragon," I answered slowly, after a moments thought.

The Egyptian woman exchanged a look with the tomb keeper beside her, and it looked like the two of them were holding a silent conversation. Finally Ishizu returned her attention to me, "Yes. The Millennium Heart was created by the tears of Slifer the Sky Dragon five thousand years ago in a final attempt to protect the Pharaoh. It was given to the Pharaoh's Knight just before the final battle against the evil," she said solemnly.

I hope she wasn't saying what I think she was saying. "You're not saying I'm some reincarnation, right?" I asked nervously.

"No," Shadi interjected.

Thank goodness, I thought, leaning back in my chair. I prompted Ishizu to continue her story, eager to hear how it ended.

"The knight, with the power of the Millennium Heart, charged into battle along with the Pharaoh's priests, but the evil was too strong. Realizing they were fighting a losing battle, the knight retreated back to the palace in order to protect the Pharaoh as it was the will of Slifer. It was her duty to protect the Pharaoh at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing herself. The great darkness destroyed everything in its path, leaving just the Pharaoh and his knight. Loyal to the end, the knight ordered the Pharaoh to flee as she held off the evil by herself, using the power of the heart to help her." Ishizu paused.

I looked at her, "Well what happens?" I asked, nodding for her to continue. She can't just stop there, it was the best part. I needed to know what happened.

"The knight managed to hold off the evil but not for very long. After she had fallen, the Pharaoh combined the power of the Millennium Heart with the Millennium Puzzle in order to resurrect Slifer the Sky Dragon and bring an end to the destruction. But the Pharaoh paid a high price for his life was taken as well in order to save what was left of his home. Slifer the Sky Dragon, using the last of his strength, captured the Pharaoh's soul before it could cross over and locked it away in the Millennium Puzzle."

I waited for Ishizu to say more, but she had stopped. "That's so sad!" I exclaimed, "How could something like happen?"

"Fate," Ishizu murmured quietly.

I blinked, opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it. There was nothing to say. The story echoed in my mind and I tried to visualize her words. I wonder what the knight looked like?

"Although you are not the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's Knight, your soul contains a similar aura to his knight," Ishizu said, her blue eyes unwavering,"But you are not the only one with a similar soul, there is one other person."

"Who?" I cocked my head to the side.

"Tea Gardner," the spirit spoke up once again.

Seriously? That annoying, naive, 'shining friendship' girl? Huh I did not see that coming, out of all the people Shadi could have named, Tea wasn't even on the list. I shrugged, it did make sense though. She was always trying to help Yugi. And now that I think about it, she would probably do well as the Pharaoh's knight.

"Slifer watches you both," Ishizu interrupted, bringing me out of my thoughts, "Allison, do not take the Millennium Heart lightly, for you wear it only because Slifer has deemed you worthy. But both Tea and you are candidates for the title of the Pharaoh's Knight."

I'm sorry but when exactly did I sign up for that? I thought sardonically. "Tea can be the Pharaoh's Knight," I stated flatly.

My comment went unheard.

"And now it is time to see if you are worthy of carrying the Millennium Heart, Allison."

Without warning, Shadi appeared before me, a Millennium Item in his hand. He pointed the item directly at me and then twisted it as though he were unlocking a door. I felt as though someone had taken a hammer and a wedged and smashed it down onto my head. The pain was worse than when Odion bashed my head into the elevator. And then suddenly the pain stopped and images began to flash before me. Images from my past.

I saw myself standing in a white room with my mother as she cradled a newborn Sam. I saw myself celebrating my eleventh birthday with all my friends. I saw myself crying because Sam had taken my stuff animal and wouldn't give it back. I saw a lot of memories I had forgotten about.

_Interesting._

The voice jolted me from my trance and I could feel an unwanted presence in the back of my mind. Now I was mad. These were personal and private memories and they were definitely not meant for other people to see. 'Get out of my head right now!' I snarled viscously. There was a flash of light and then I found myself back in reality. I glared up at Shadi, who seemed very caught off guard.

"Don't you ever do that again," I hissed angrily, "You had no right to enter my mind."

Shadi remained completely silent.

"Allison," Ishizu's quiet voice cut in, "My Millennium Necklace tells me that my brother and his rare hunters are trying to go after Yugi again,"

"What?" I said, glancing at her, "Where?"- _and you couldn't have said this earlier?_

The Egyptian woman closed her eyes and her Millennium Necklace shone brightly. Her eyes opened, "They will strike very soon-"

"Yes, where?" I asked impatiently.

"My brother seems to be going after Yugi when he sleeps." she said.

Alright so they were heading to the Game Shop. For not being able to help Yami earlier, I would help him now. "Thanks for the…" my voice trailed off as I glanced at the empty tea cup, "…that." I said and then rushed over to the elevator.

"Oh Allison,"

I spun around, "Yes?"

"This conversation must stay a secret," Ishizu warned, "-until it is time."

Great, another thing to hide from Yami. He is so going to hate me.

It occurred to me as I ran down the street, I had no idea where Yugi's house was located, but my feet seemed to instinctively know which way to go. I trusted myself that I was going the right way. I don't know why I felt so determined- I think that story about the Pharaoh's Knight might have actually inspired me to try harder with dueling, amazingly enough. I just felt so sanguine- I think Ishizu slipped something into my tea when I wasn't looking. And it wasn't because Slifer thought I was worthy, no the Pharaoh's Knight title thing was all Tea's. Maybe it was the guilt of choking that fueled my determination.

I rounded a corner of a random street to see the Game Shop sitting at the end of the street. I raced over and found the front door had been yanked off its hinges. A foreboding feeling washed over me as I stepped inside the pitch black shop. "Hello?" I called out through the darkness, "Mr. Moto?" Was I too late? I groped blindly at the walls, trying to find the light switch. Eventually I found it, but only after smashing into the counter and banging my knee. I cursed and massaged it gingerly.

Was anybody home? I wondered. Surely someone had to have heard me. Maybe the rare hunters came and then left cause nobody was home?

"A-Allie?" a gruff voice moaned.

I looked around and spotted Mr. Moto slumped against the wall. I bent down, unsure of what to do, "Mr. Moto, are you hurt? Where's Yugi? Should I call an ambulance? The police? A doctor?" a million questions were firing out of my mouth. I was freaking out. I had no idea what to do. "Are you bleeding? Do you need ice? Bandages?"

He began coughing, "They're coming back," he rasped.

I frowned for a second, but then realized he was referring to the rare hunters. The sound of footsteps caught my attention and I prayed that it wasn't Odion. My determined attitude was disappearing at an alarming rate. I couldn't even muster up the fighting spirit I had had when I was with Mokuba. Great, this is how my luck is punishing me.

"What do we do?" I whispered to Mr. Moto.

"I don't know," he replied.

"How many are there?" I asked.

"Only one," he said.

"I'm back gramps and you better be ready to tell me where Yugi is," the rare hunter sang out, laughing.

Oh are we in trouble.

I bit my lip, racking my brain for a plan- any plan would do right now. Crap, I've got nothing. The only thing I could think of was dueling him and stalling for time. But my dueling skills suck, I can't possible do anything. I shook my head, riding myself of all pessimistic thoughts. I have to try. I owe at least that much to Yugi. And really it doesn't matter if I win or lose because hopefully by the time the duel is over, someone will have found Mr. Moto.

"Good luck," Mr. Moto said, he seemed to catch on to my plan without me saying anything.

I nodded my head. Taking in a deep breath I stood up. Within those couple of seconds, some of my nerve seemed to have found their way back to me. I wasn't as scared as before.

"If you want Yugi, you're going to have to go through me," I growled, glowering at the rare hunter.

"Are you challenging me to a duel, girl?" he mocked.

"Scared?" I sneered.

"In your dreams," he retorted, "I accept your challenge."

"Good."

I felt extremely guilty about leaving Mr. Moto by himself. I prayed he wasn't hurt. We walked towards a nearby street, one that had a wider area to duel.

"This'll be a piece of cake," he bragged, pointing his arm outward. Two hologram units shot out from underneath his duel disk while the card platform joined together and swiveled to its active position.

I rolled my eyes, "You wish."

* * *

Dun dun dun. Anyways I had to break chapter 10 down into two chapters, I'm so sad, but I did it because there were two points that didn't relate to each other. I'll post the next chapter asap. Ishizu and Allie's talk just went on forever and ever, it didn't seem that long in my head but then when I wrote it, it was so long LOL. The next scene is a duel scene, I don't know if you guys enjoy reading duel scenes, but hopefully you guys do :) If you don't, that's okay because there won't be that many duel scenes in the story xD Oh yes, anyone want to try and guess who the Pharaoh's Knight is? She's a duel monster card, that's the only hint I'll give ;D

**You guys rock!: grapejuice101**, **Aqua girl 007 **I was creeped out as well, I think it's a mistake though. I got the info off absolute anime, **alexanimelvr**, **Yamiheart**, Huh I've never heard of that flavor but anyways that's pretty freaky lol, **YankeeSamson**, **NightSkyForLife**, You raise an interesting question. Hopefully this chapter somewhat answers your question :D I haven't really thought about it, but after reading your question, I picked out a card just in case lol, **EgyptianSoul88** I definitely will, you'll see, **Danyeda Goofy Panterita**, **tikarose**, and **xXSilver MirrorsXx **lol sorry, I know I promised Marik and Bakura action in the next chapter, but sadly they have another chapter to wait xD

**Review!**

**Seriously thanks guys, I love reading them :D**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N: **Holy crap, this duel scene literally killed me. It was so painful to write, my hands hurt. This time I actually knew who was going to be the winner. I planned out everybody's cards really carefully and visualized exactly how the scene was going to go. You might notice that a couple of Allie's cards are the same as Yugi's. I'll explain that later on, but hopefully it doesn't seem like a mary-sue-ish thing. Umm when the guy plays the card Guardian Statue, you should really go check that card out and see just how huge it is lol. Anyways here is Allie's redeeming moment ^^

_Italics_- Marik. Throughout the duel he pops up and says stuff, sometimes while the rare hunter is making a move and other times when it's Allie's turn. Sorry for any confusion

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

Moment of Truth

This was it. This was the moment of truth.

"Let's do this already," I snarled.

"Prepare to lose," he sneered, "I'll go first."

**Allie: 4000**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

He drew a card, "This should hold you for awhile," he smirked as he drew a card, "I play Moai Interceptor Cannons, in defense mode. And then I place three cards facedown and end my turn."

Three giant stone statues rose from the ground.

**Allie: 4000**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

I glared across at the rare hunter, "I don't think so. I summon Wall of Illusion in defense mode and then place one card facedown, ending my turn."

**Allie: 4000**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

"_Allie, no matter what you do, you're going to lose and then you'll be my mind slave,_" Marik stated through his rare hunter.

"Shut up, Marik!" I retorted, "I'm gonna win this duel, even if it kills me!"

He laughed, "_You couldn't even duel against my weakest rare hunters and you think you're going to defeat me?" _

I narrowed my hazel orbs venomously, "The circumstances were different," I growled stiffly, "This time, there's nothing at stake if I lose."

"_Contrary to what you may believe, Allie, your mind is at stake. Since I'm in such a good mood right now, I'll let you decide whether your mind should be banished to the shadow realm or become my slave." _

Yes, but it was my mind. If I screwed up only I would be affected, that's the difference between this duel and last time. Yugi's puzzle and card were on the line and I didn't want to the be the reason why he lost it. I grimaced, Marik seemed really confident, "Neither, because I am going to win." I stated firmly, staring the rare hunter in the eyes, "Now if you're done talking, make a move already."

"Fine," the rare hunter drew another card, a malicious smile appearing on his face, "I sacrifice my Moai Interceptor Cannons in order to summon Criosphinx in defense mode and then I end my turn."

**Allie: 4000**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

Was this guy serious? He's only playing in defense mode so how am I supposed to win if I can't touch his life points? C'mon Allie think of something. I had to bring out my monster in order to take down his defense. "Alright, check this out rare hunter, I sacrifice Wall of Illusion in order to summon my all powerful Chaos Command Magician. His attack points are just enough to wipe out your Criosphinx." I informed him.

**Allie: 4000**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

He frowned, "You got lucky, I'll give you that, but make no mistake, that won't ever happen again. Now that your turn is over, I'll begin. Now I activate the magic card Hammer Shot. This card destroys the monster with the highest attack points on the field and that would be your Chaos Command Magician." he sneered.

"I activate the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon." I said, tapping a button on the duel disk.

The rare hunter clutched his stomach and begin howling with laughter, "I don't think I've ever met anyone as stupid as you," he jeered, "Don't you know how to play this game?"

What was he going on about? I looked at the field and watched in horror as a giant flying hammer appeared and promptly whacked my magician on the head as though he was that arcade game 'Bop the Weasel'.

"Hey, what happened?" I demanded, glaring at him.

He continued laughing and after awhile he finally regained his composure, "Don't you know, Mystical Space Typhoon, although it is a counter card, it destroys one magic or trap card, but it doesn't negate the card's effect." The rare hunter laughed again, "Now I know what your card is, I'll destroy it my next turn. But for now, I'll summon Guardian Statue to the field and attack you directly!"

Holy hell. A mega sized rock statue emerged from the ground- it was a freaking building with legs! Unfortunately what I did not see coming was his oversized fist smashing into me causing the wind to be knocked right out of me. I felt myself fly back some feet and I began gasping for air. For a hologram that really hurt. I don't want to lose anymore direct life points to that thing. Luckily it's attack points weren't that high so I'd be able to destroy it.

**Allie: 3200**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

Are you kidding me? I stared at the card I drew- it wasn't even a monster! I looked at my hand, I had no powerful monsters to summon. "I play one card facedown in defense mode and end my turn."

**Allie: 3200**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

"_What's the matter Allie? Realize that you're going to lose?" _Marik mocked.

I gritted my teeth, refusing to reply.

"My move," the rare hunter said, "First I summon Medusa Worm in attack mode. Then I play the trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device. This trap card returns one monster on the field to the duelist's hand and I choose your face down monster."

Oh shit.

"And you know what that means, don't you girl?" he said smugly, "I get to attack your life points directly…again! So go my monsters and attack her."

Oh double shit.

And just when I had finally caught my breath too. I braced myself, this time actually seeing the fist flying towards me. I tried to dodge it, but only succeeded in getting hit in the head. Once again I was thrown back, bouncing painfully against a lamp post. I let out a yelp and for a while my vision was clouded and blurry. The ringing in my head was very disorientating.

**Allie: 1900**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

"_Well come on Allie, make your move. Or have you already given up?_" Marik snickered loudly.

"S-shut…up!" I said, forcing the words out with every breath, "I-I'm…going…to…" Crap, I can't even think straight, what was I going to do? It hurts to breathe. Why was I dueling this rare hunter in the first place?

"Allie!"

Allie, that's a nice name. Oh wait a minute, isn't that my name?

"Allie!"

There it is, that voice again. It sounded so familiar, so warm and comforting. A hazy figure appeared before my very eyes. He had spiky blonde hair and big violet eyes. His lips were moving, but there was no sound coming out of them. Two firm hands were placed on my shoulders and he looked me in the eyes. He was still talking, but I couldn't hear anything.

"_Ah Pharaoh so nice of you to join us. But you're too late. You're welcome to watch as I destroy your friend right before your very eyes._"

Pharaoh? There's only one king I know. I racked my brain, trying to think of his name. It started with a Y…Yori…Yoshi…Yuji…Yuki…Yugi! "Yugi!" I said aloud, my vision becoming clear. The ringing in my head had stopped and I was starting to regain control over my body again. I looked around, two duel monsters stood a few yards away and that's when I remembered- I was in the middle of a duel. I was dueling against Marik's rare hunter in order to stop him from getting to Yugi. And I remember what I was going to say now, "I'm going to win!" I said confidently, slowly standing up. Yami extended his hand and I gratefully accepted it.

"Marik, end this battle immediately," Yami ordered, glaring at the rare hunter.

A laugh erupted from the rare hunter, _"That's not going to happen, Pharaoh. Allie and I have a duel to finish. All you can do is watch_."

"He's right," I murmured.

"Are you alright?" Yami asked, concern written all over his face, "Can you stand?"

I nodded my head.

Yami turned his head to address the rare hunter, "Marik, I told you to leave my friends alone. Your problem is with me."

_"And yet here Allie is, dueling for you. You know Pharaoh, you're not doing a very good job in protecting your friends. You failed to save your friends Joey and Tea, and now you're going to watch as I destroy another one of your friends, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."_

"Marik!"

I placed a hand on the Pharaoh's shoulder, "Let me do this, I owe it to you," I told him gently, "And besides, I need to prove to myself that I can do this. So please?"

He dipped his head respectfully, "Good luck and be careful."

Hey, you don't need to tell me twice. I chuckled and then winced. Wow it hurts to laugh. I hobbled over back to my original spot, "It's my move." Please let me draw a good card otherwise I'm screwed, I prayed, closing my eyes as I drew a card, "I summon the Mystical Elf in defenses mode and place one card facedown. Then I play the trap card, The Eye of Truth. As long as this card remains on the field, you have to show me your hand."

"I don't think so," the rare hunter said, "I activate the magic card Mystical Space Typhoon. So there." he frowned, "What are you smiling about?"

I snorted, "Because that's exactly what I wanted you to do," I said, "I wanted you to waste your card. I had no intention of using my trap card, but I needed you to use yours. And you just wasted your magic card."

**Allie: 1900**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

"Hmm interesting, girl," the rare hunter spat. He drew a card, "I sacrifice Medusa Worm in order to summon Hierasphinx. Attack her Mystical Elf," he grinned, "And you know what that means don't you girl? Another direct attack on your life points!"

Oh no, not again. I closed my eyes as the giant swung his mighty fist. It felt as if a train had just collided into my chest. The force knocked the wind out of me and I was swept off my feet, high into the air. I prepared myself for the pain to come, but it never did. Am I dead? I wondered half seriously. I opened my eyes to see purple orbs staring down at me. I blinked a couple of times, my brain trying to register what exactly happened.

"You're not alone, Allie," Yami said.

His words went in one ear and out the other because I too busy focusing on the fact that I was sitting on his lap! Oh my god! "Y-you caught me?" I squeaked, instantly jumping to my feet. I regretted that milliseconds later though.

He chuckled, standing up and brushing himself off, "I'm with you," he said, "-I'll catch you when you fall and help you stand back up, because that's what friends do," Yami grinned, sending me a thumbs up.

I averted my gaze towards the ground. Did he know what he just said? I know he added the friends part, but that doesn't really matter. Oh my gosh, I really think I'm going to faint. I could just stare at him all day. Sadly I remembered that I still had a duel to finish. I marched back over with determination.

**Allie: 1100**

**Rare Hunter: 4000**

That bastard still hasn't lost any life points. It's time to do some major damage.

I drew a card, excellent, "I play the magic card, Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards." C'mon I really need something. Please, heart of the cards, give me something I can use. Yes! "Alright Rare Hunter, you're going to love this. First I play the trap card Just Desserts! This card deducts 500 life points for every monster on your side of the field. Then I activate the magic card, Monster Reborn!" I smirked at him, "And you know what this does right? I'm bringing my Choas Command Magician back from the graveyard and I'm going to attack your Guardian Statue!"

The rare hunter's face expression fell as he knew what was coming.

"Oh yeah that's right. It's time for some well deserved payback! Go Chaos Command Magician, wipe out his Guardian Statue!" - _inflict as much pain as possible! _

I laughed as he was flown a couple of feet back from my magician's attack. The reason I didn't go after his stronger monster was because he also has an attack strength of 2400 points. If he attacks my magician then their attack strength cancels each other out and nobody loses any life points. I'm thinking smart.

**Allie: 1100**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

_"I congratulate you for getting this far, Allie, but don't get too comfortable because that's as far as you go." _

"Scared Marik?" I asked, grinning, "I told you I was going to win, even if it kills me."

"_You wish_,"

"Now, it's my turn," the rare hunter said, drawing a card. His eyes shifted from each of his cards as he decided what to do, "You've got no hope now. I'll spare your magician for this turn and now I summon Golem Sentry in defense mode and end my turn."

**Allie: 1100**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

What was he up to? I narrowed my eyes at him. He could have attacked my life points directly and destroyed my magician. He's trying to summon a monster, I realized in horror. I slid a card out from my deck, perfect, this will protect my magician, "I summon Magician's Valkyria in defense mode and then end my turn."

**Allie: 1100**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"You're in for it now girl. I tribute my Hierasphinx in order to summon Exxod, Master of the Guard, in defense mode! And then I end my turn," he was smirking as he said, "So how are you going to deal with this one?"

The monster was even bigger than that stupid Guardian Statue! And it looked exactly like Exodia, just golder and more zen-ish. How the hell was I going to take that thing down when it had 4000 defense points?

"Allie!" I heard Yami call out, "Remain calm. You have a card in your deck that can defeat it."

I gave Yami a crazy look, "Really?" I questioned skeptically.

"It has zero attack points." he stated.

Zero attack points? I kind of got that Yami was trying to tell me something, but what I have no idea. I shrugged, I didn't have time to worry about what Yami may or may not be trying to tell me.

**Allie: 1100**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"My move," I said, I could feel myself starting to fade in and out. I had to win in the next couple of moves. "Since you specially summoned your monster, I can special summon a monster of my own thanks so his special ability. I summon Cyber Dinosaur in attack mode. Wipe out his Golem Sentry." I drew a card, "Excellent, I play the trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf. This card increases my life points by 300 for every monster on the field and I count four!"

**Allie: 2300**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"Good move, Allie!" I heard Yami say. I grinned at his praise.

The rare hunter let out a frustrated noise, "I summon Giant Rat in defense mode" he grinned, "Then I reveal my facedown card, Swords of Revealing Light! This card will stop you for three whole turns. " he drew a card, "I set one card facedown."

**Allie: 2300**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

I'm stuck for three turns? I better draw some good cards. No, I have a better idea. "Now I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon to wipe out your Swords of Revealing Light!" I once again tapped the button on my duel disk.

"And I counter with Magic Drain." he replied calmly.

"And what does that do?" I wondered with annoyance.

"It negates the effect of one spell card." he said.

"Allie," Yami called out, "If you have a spell card in your hand you can negate the effects of Magic Drain by discarding it."

Well I don't unfortunately, I thought grimly. I drew a card, "I end my turn."

**Allie: 2300**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"_See Allie, I told you it was hopeless." _

"You're a jerk Marik," I retorted, "Just make a move already."

"_With pleasure," _Marik said, making his rare hunter draw another card. He began laughing, "First I switch Exxod, Master of the Guard to attack mode. Then I play the magic card, Shield and Sword. This card swaps the monsters' attack and defense points for one turn. Attack her Cyber Dinosaur," the rare hunter commanded.

"Allie stay strong!"

Easy for you to say, you're not the one dueling. I grimaced, things were really looking bad for me.

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

I drew a card, interesting. I glanced over at the battle field, his Exxod Master of the whatever was still in attack mode, and since the rare hunter's turn was over, its attack strength had returned back to zero. Yami's earlier words sounded off in my head. _Zero attack points…_This card might just do the trick, "Alright check this move out. I play the trap card Spellbinding Circle on your Exxod Master of the…" my voice became really quiet because I couldn't remember the rest of its name, "This card traps your monster so it can't attack. But the best part is, you can't change its battle position, so as soon as the three turns are over, I'm going to wipe it out along with the rest of your life points."

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"I place one card facedown and then end my turn," he said.

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

I drew a card, "I end my turn." I said, shrugging.

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"Now I draw," he said, robotically reaching for a card, "I activate the magic card, Monster Reborn in order to bring back my Criosphinx in defense mode."

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

How can I touch his life points if he only plays in defense mode? This is so annoying. "I place one card facedown in defense mode and then I switch my Magician's Valkyria from defend to attack. She has enough attack points to wipe out that rat. And I don't know why you bothered to bring back that monster when my Chaos Command Magician is just going to wipe it out again. Go!"

"Not so fast," he threw his arm out, "I activate the trap card Ordeal Of A Traveler. Know what it does?"

I frowned, "No." I deadpanned.

"You have to guess the card in my hand before you can attack and if you guess wrong, one monster is returned to your hand."

Knowing my dumb luck, I was going to guess wrong.

_"Still think you're going to win, Allie?_" Marik questioned.

I glared at him, "Shut up, I am," I insisted. "Monster." I stated.

"_Wrong. So say good-bye to your Chaos Command Magician_."

**Allie: 800**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

"My turn," he sneered evilly, drawing a card, "I sacrifice Giant Rat and remove from play my Guardian Statue in order to play my all powerful Gigantes in attack mode. Wipe out her silly Magician's Valkyria."

A red devilish monster charged across the field, swinging a spiked club. There wasn't anything I could to do to protect my magician and I watched sadly as she disappeared.

**Allie: 700**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

Things are not looking good for me right now, but I'm going to win, I swear it.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." I said, placing down Swords of Revealing Light. The reason I wasn't using that magic card right now was because I needed him to destroy both my facedown monsters. Magician of Faith would allow me to bring back Monster Reborn which in turn would allow me to bring back my Magician's Valkyria. And since I can't seem to be able to touch his life points, my Princess of Tsurugi would deal 1000 points of direct damage for all magic and trap cards on his side of the field. Then I would activate my magic card.

**Allie: 700**

**Rare Hunter: 1400**

_"Is that all you're going to do Allie?" _Marik popped back into the conversation.

I rolled my eyes, I didn't have the strength to waste what little breath I had left. Already I could feel myself slipping. I had struggled to insert the card into its slot. I honestly don't know how long I'm going to last, but I swear I'm not going to lose. I refuse to lose. I won't lose, for Yugi who has been so kind to me and for Mr. Moto.

"Always have something to say, huh Marik?" I retorted with a labored breath, "Stop talking and get on with it."

"_As you wish, Allie,_" Marik drawled.

The rare hunter pulled a card out from his deck, "First I'll have Gigantes attack one of your facedown monsters, the one on the right."

Perfect, I thought as a tiny smile spread across my face, "You've activated Princess Tsurugi's special ability. For every magic and trap card you have on the field, you lose 500 life points."

"Hn."

**Allie: 700**

**Rare Hunter: 400**

"My turn," I informed the rare hunter, drawing a card, "Hmmm, I think I'll sacrifice one of my facedown monsters to bring out my Chaos Command Magician. Remember him? Cause he's back. And with him on the field I can take out your Gigantes and the rest of your life points." I nodded at my monster and he raised his staff, pointing it at the red devil monster.

"Don't think you've done something amazing girl because I activate the magic card, Emergency Provisions," interrupted Marik's mind slave, "By discarding one or more magic or trap cards on my side of the field, my life points increase by 1000. I'll send Ordeal Of A Traveler to the graveyard to increase my life points by 1000. So now our life points are tied."

"Good move Allie," Yami nodded his head in approval, "You've forced the rare hunter to give up a powerful trap card."

I felt my face flush red and I giggled.

**Allie: 700**

**Rare Hunter: 700**

But as I laughed, the world around me began to sway.

_"What's the matter Allie, getting tired?" _Marik feigned concern. "_That's okay because I'm about to wipe out the rest of your life points." _He inserted the four cards he had been storing in his hand, "_First I play the magic card, Soul Of The Pure which increases my life points by 800 points. Then I activate the magic card, Lightening Vortex, by discarding this monster card in my hand. This magic card will destroy your Chaos Command Magician. Next I activate the the magic Stop Defense, so reveal your face down monster."_

I watched helplessly as my Magician of Faith was forced out from hiding and into attack mode. Well he didn't destroy it, but at least I get Monster Reborn back.

_"And lastly, I play the magic card Brain Control to take control of your Magician of Faith. Attack her life points directly!" _

**Allie: 400**

**Rare Hunter: 700**

For a very weak card, she sure packs a punch. I was thrown back with tremendous force…again. Maybe it only seemed like tremendous force because I was so tired. I expected myself to smash into the lamp post or the wall or something, but I never sensed any kind of impact.

"Allie,"

Yup that's my name, don't wear it out. Man I'm tired. I can barely move my body.

A face entered my line of sight, albeit a bit blurry. It took a really long time to register that the face belonged to Yami. But it was very hard to concentrate on him, even though he was right in front of me.

"Marik end this duel immediately, you've done enough!"

His outburst really caught my attention. I struggled to get up. No, he couldn't just end my duel like that. I swore to win.

"What no!" I protested, shooting the king of games an appalled look. But once again the blonde slid out of focus and I clutched my head as it began to throb in pain. Why now? I wondered.

The next time the duelist came back into focus, I found myself staring up at Yugi. His big purple orbs were wide with concern. His lips moved but it was really hard to pay attention to what he was saying. At some point during his speech, the words finally started to make sense "…you're in no condition to be dueling. So please Allie, just end the duel. You've done well, but this duel could really kill you." he said earnestly.

I chuckled, didn't I say I was going to win even if it killed me?

"It's not fair," I mumbled. My sight turned hazy and when it cleared, I was looking back at Yami again. Did I imagine Yugi? I shifted my gaze towards the rare hunter who was watching with amusement.

"Thank you, Allie," Yami said, "You are a true friend…"

The rest of his words were lost to me as I met a world filled with darkness.

-X-

I opened my eyes, and blinked, trying to rid myself of the double vision. The pain I was feeling in my head brought a new meaning to headache. I slowly drifted my gaze from the street to somewhere in front of me. I was extremely confused. Where was I anyways?

"Marik, I activate the magic card Monster Reborn in order to bring back my Chaos Command Magician!"

Chaos Command Magician? Wasn't that a duel monsters card? Wasn't that my card?

Nothing was making sense to me.

I closed my eyes, just need to rest for a bit again. I'm so tired.

-X-

The next time I opened my eyes, my surroundings were moving. Watching everything move was very nauseating. I glanced down and frowned, something wasn't right. Since when was I wearing pants, I thought I put on shorts when I left the house. And those were definitely not my shoes.

It took me a while to figure out that I was being carried. By who, I didn't know, but it wasn't a stranger- I could tell that much. I nuzzled my face against the nape of his neck and tightened my grip.

"I liiikkkee you Yami, because you're so pretty," I heard myself mumble, "And you have awesome hair." I giggled and closed my eyes again.

This was such a nice dream.

* * *

Wow this is my longest chapter yet! See this is exactly why I had to split chapter ten into two parts. That last piece of dialog is for **EgyptainSoul88**, hope you enjoyed that ;D Lol she thinks it's a dream.

Okay if some of the duel doesn't make sense, I'm like seriously sorry. Half way through this incredible long duel I fell asleep and when I woke up I forgot how many cards they had in their hand.I probably played a few cards wrong, but at this point I think it's okay. After all in the show, some of the effects of some monsters aren't used and stuff so whatever. I'll get it right the next duel I guess lol.

Ha, how many of you thought Allie was going to win? I know Marik was acting like a totally mean jerk in this chapter but when Allie actually meets him, he won't be. Okay the ending part after she passes out the first time, those -X- mark a tiny little time skip as she regains consciousness at random points, but you guys probably figured that out.

Wow a lot of you hate Tea xD Me too! At least in this story she's useless. But I had to add her otherwise it would be a cliche and or mary-sue for Allie to be the Pharaoh's Knight- not saying that she will be :D You probably wouldn't have seen it, but since Allie supposedly shares something in common with the Knight, then it was kind of destined she lose- well on a technicality she won since Yami took over after Marik insulted her (I didn't show it, but I'm telling you now lol) but it doesn't really count as a win for her seeing as she passed out.

Oh yes and I'm starting school again ;A; so the updates will take longer. I have to seriously start studying for the SATs but I'll probably get distracted and write for this :D

**Alright time to hand out cookies for everybody who reviewed *whips out a bowl of giant chocolate chip cookies*: Yamiheart**, Hmm maybe Lord Voldemort is hiding under his turban lol glad you liked that story, **Danyeda **Glad at least someone thought adding Tea was cool, **Aqua girl 007 **None taken, yeah no it would totally be a cliche. And if I had made her the reincarnation the explanation would something like Slifer took the knight's soul and sent it to another dimension, waiting for the right time to summon her. Lol. **YankeeSamson **I never watched season 0, well no I watched like the first ten episodes or so, but I really didn't like it so I have no idea what Tea's done. Allie says thanks. **NightSkyForLife **Yup made total sense to me,** xXSilver MirrorsXx **I think you'll enjoy what I have in store for those two lol, **alexanimelvr **thank you ^^ AND **EgyptianSoul88 **

**Review on your way out :)**

**You guys are truly awesome.**

**No Flames.**

**ZTL**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N: **Alright I'm back, but not for long. As if the studying for the SAT could keep me away from writing. Lol the title for this chapter is stupid, but I couldn't think of anything else. Maybe I'll go back and change it. I wrote chapter 12 twice, but the first one was just not Allie-ish and I wasted four days writing that. Thanks for all the awesome reviews, I loved them. Enjoy ^^

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

Encounters

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Hmm what?

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

What the hell is that noise? I thought I already smashed my alarm clock to bits.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Shut up!

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Oh for the love of- SMACK!

"Ow," I groaned, smacking hard onto the floor. Seriously what did I do to deserve this kind of cruel punishment? My head felt like that hyper active cartoon bird Woody Woodpecker had paid a visit and pecked until he couldn't peck anymore. And my body was so sore. Blinking the tiny stars out of my eyes, I found myself on the floor, in the dark. I hate the dark, it's too dark.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Oh my god, what the hell is making that incessant noise? I scrambled to my feet, nearly tripping myself over the fallen duvet, as I hunted around for the source of the sound. This isn't my room, I came to realize as I moved about, searching everywhere for the noisemaker, it's too neat and organized to be my room.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

There it is again, where the hell is it coming from? It sounds like an alarm clock but I don't see- oh I found it. A little green flashing digital display illuminated from across the room. I stalked over towards it with the intention of throwing it out the window. The innocent clock read 6:30 in big block numbers. I've never woken up so early in the morning, not even for school. I grabbed the clock and unplugged it. Ha, that'll teach you.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Why are you still beeping? I unplugged you! Where is the source of your power coming from?

While I was trying to violently destroy- err turn off the stupid clock, a lump next to me caught my attention. At first I hadn't noticed it since it was so dark, but I could just barely see the 'lump' moving and there was just enough light to see spiky blonde hair protruding out from underneath it. So this really wasn't a dream, I mused to myself. The rule is if you fall asleep in dreamworld and wake up and you're still in dreamworld then it is not a dreamworld anymore and it is in fact real. Okay so I just made that up, but I am not complaining. Memories came flooding back to me, albeit a bit unclear some of them.

_Beep. Beep. Be-_

Gah! Die.

I grabbed the clock and promptly smashed it against the wall. Oh it died all right, I cracked it open on the first try and smashed it into pieces on the second try. I glanced guiltily at Yugi. Opps. Note to self: I owe Yugi one alarm clock. The poor boy was out like a light bulb, sleeping at his desk. I don't remember much of last night, but I know that somehow I was responsible for Yugi being forced to sleep at his desk- trust me it is very uncomfortable falling asleep in a chair. I lifted him up from his chair, surprisingly he was heavier than he looked, and placed him down onto his bed.

I looked around observing the surrounding details, I wasn't just in any room, I was in Yugi Moto's room, this was way beyond cool. But as way beyond cool as it was to be standing in Yugi Moto's room, there wasn't much to do other than watch Yugi sleep- and as much of an opportunity that was, it was also creepy. I mean who wants to wake up and find someone watching them sleep?

That's like my worst nightmare.

"Guys…don't worry, I'll rescue you."

I jumped at his mumbling and slapped my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from screaming. My conscience pinched me very hard at his words. Even in his sleep, Yugi was busy worrying over his friends. And I probably hadn't helped, disappearing, picking a fight with the rare hunters, challenging that stupid rare hunter to a duel…I just added to his anxiety. I was trying to help Yugi by dueling that rare hunter, but now I feel like that plan really failed.

I slowly backed out of his room, grabbing my duel disk and cards that sat on his desk and my grey jean jacket off the back of his chair. I didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for the king of games but everything I did seemed to do just that. I headed downstairs to a deserted game shop after hunting around the house for my black superstars. The broken glass from last night had been cleaned up and replaced along with the door and Mr. Moto was nowhere to be seen. A note had been left on the counter top.

_Yugi,_

_Gone to visit Bakura in the hospital_

_Grandpa_

Oh good idea, I should leave Yugi a note as well so he doesn't end up dying of an anxiety attack or something.

_Yugi_

_Gone to find Joey and Tea_

_See you around in Battle City (hopefully)_

_Allie_

_ps- thanks for everything_

This note felt like I was saying goodbye, permanently. I was tempted to write an apology but if I did that then I would ramble on and on. I know the chances of me actually finding Joey or Tea were slim since they were probably already in Marik's clutches, but I was going to try. Yesterday really didn't go as planned and I don't even remember what actually happened after I challenged that rare hunter to a duel. I know Yugi appeared later on, but that was about it.

-X-

Running off without Yugi may be my dumbest plan yet.

It's been four hours and I haven't made any progress in finding Joey or Tea. In fact I haven't even found Domino Pier, which is where I need to start. What have I found? Well basically everything but Domino Pier and amazingly enough I managed to find Kaiba Corp. One guy, who obviously didn't know the definition of pier, directed me to the beach side of Domino City, which was way out of my way and in the complete wrong direction. It took forever to find my way back to Domino Square.

I wish I had waited for Yugi. Domino City is just too big and I get lost very easily. Who knows where I'll end up next?

"Hey Allie!"

Wow my luck has strange timing. I guess it's trying to apologize for yesterday.

I shot my head up and looked around at the call of my name. I swear it's too good to be true.

"Yugi, hey," I exclaimed waving, eyes spotting his trademark tri-colored spiky hair. I ran up to him, bouncing with every step, "So we meet again," I joked to the Pharaoh.

"I'm glad you're safe," he said, "You should have woken me up. We could've looked for Joey and Tea together."

I chuckled, "But you needed your sleep," I countered, grinning at him.

"Thank you," Yami mumbled, blinking gratefully.

"Well well, if it isn't the girl who's too scared to duel,"

Oh joy, Seto Kaiba.

I glared up at the taller duelist, "Well well, if it isn't the boy who's too stupid to install a clock feature into his duel disks," I retorted sarcastically.

"Hn," Kaiba grunted and turned to Yugi, "See Yugi, I told you your friend was fine. Now can we get on with our duel?"

Gosh Kaiba has a really one track mind: duel Yugi. I sent the brunette an offended look as he ignored me and completely tuned out my presence.

Yami frowned, "I told you Kaiba, until my friends, all of my friends, are safe, our duel is postponed. Is that clear?"

Kaiba turned his head, his piercing ice blue eyes glaring down at me- what did I do? "You," he said, "Haven't you already found the mutt and Gardner? Mokuba tells me you know where they are."

I gaped at him- he's trying to blame me for the fact he can't duel Yugi! Jerk. I glowered at him and drawled sarcastically, "Oh yeah I totally rescued Joey and Tea. Can't you see, they're right here," I said, gesturing to the empty air beside me, "Joey say hi…oh I guess he doesn't want to right now."

"Hn,"

I rolled my eyes.

"Allie, how are you feeling?" Yami spoke up, his violet orbs reflecting genuine concern.

"Uhh besides the killer headache and soreness? I'm fine," I replied cheerfully, "I've been trying for the past couple of hours to find Domino Pier, but my sense of direction sucks."

"And how exactly do you know Wheeler and Gardner are where you say they are?" interjected Kaiba, "Unless you're working with Marik and you're just trying to get Yugi's Egyptian God Card by luring him into a trap," he accused.

I exchanged a look with Yami as he seemed to be wondering the same thing- the look was evident on his face. I gave him a small apologetic smile and tried to silently communicate I knew for the same reason I knew he'd meet Marik sooner than he thought. Yami seemed to get the message and he nodded his head. I returned my gaze back to Kaiba- wonder if he'd believe me if I told him I fell into a fountain. Probably not.

I raised my hands in mock defense, "Oh you caught me. That's exactly what I was trying to do…steal Yugi's Egyptian God Card. I also kidnapped Joey and Tea, and I secretly and frequently talk with Marik."

"Kaiba, Allie is not that type of person," the Pharaoh said, defending me, "-and you know that very well. Yesterday she risked her life to save Mokuba, or have you forgotten already?" he challenged.

Kaiba scowled, throwing me another glare, "I haven't forgotten, Yugi," he said coldly, eyeing his rival carefully. He slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew a duel monsters card, "Here, it might help improve your pathetic dueling skills," he said with a smirk.

I looked at the card with curiosity- a pretty white horse with blue flames and a purple horn on its head. How thoughtful. I mirrored Kaiba's scowl, "Gee how kind of you." I deadpanned.

Our _lovely_ conversation was rudely interrupted by maniacal laughter from above.

"Rare hunter," Kaiba exclaimed.

"What have you done with my friends?" Yami demanded angrily.

The rare hunter laughed, "Greetings Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba-"

Am I invisible or something?

"- Yugi listen carefully, if you want to be reunited with your friends again, you will duel us on top of that tower," he instructed, pointing his finger to a very tall building some way away, "and Kaiba it is in your best interest you join him," the rare hunter grinned, "I'll see you two shortly," he turned to leave but then looked back, "Oh don't think Master Marik forgot about you," he informed me, "Oh no, Master Marik is very eager to meet you," he grinned and then disappeared.

"Yugi, I hope you're not planning on acquiescing his challenge," Kaiba said harshly, "We already know were the rest of your geek squad is."

"Kaiba, I don't have a choice. Marik may hurt my friends and I can't risk that," Yami replied coolly, "In order to rescue my friends, we must play by their rules."

Kaiba opened his mouth to make another argument but I decided to jump in to the conversation, "Hey genius, you want to duel Yugi? Well he's not going to duel you until he rescues Joey and Tea. You helping Yugi defeat the rare hunters equals Yugi saving his friends which equals you getting to duel Yugi."

"Fine," Kaiba muttered reluctantly.

I nodded at Yami and grinned.

-X-

"Hmmm…Silver Fang?" I guessed, peaking one eye open. Nope, it was Monster Reborn. So far I had only guessed two cards right: Chaos Command Magician and Magician's Valkyria. I so need to get more in tuned with my cards.

You're probably wondering why I'm guessing my cards. I'm stuck waiting outside for Yugi and Kaiba while they duel the rare hunters. Why am I not up there watching them duel? Well besides the fact that I'm terrified of very high places and the building is made of glass, Kaiba very meanly told me I had to wait outside.

I picked up another card, "Mammoth Graveyard?" I wondered aloud, flipping the card over. Nope, Fire Sorcerer. I suck with the whole 'heart of the cards' thing.

A shadow was cast over me and I looked up, ready to tell the person to go away, "Excuse me…" my voice trailed off as I recognized the person in front of me, "Oh hey Ryou," I grinned, "What's up?"

The white haired man glared at me- did I do something to offend him? "You have something I want," he said in a raspy voice.

I'm not naive unlike the rest of the 'geek' squad. This is not Ryou.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" I said, raising a brow and ignoring his statement.

The Millennium Ring he wore around his neck, jingled slightly, the middle diamond shaped part rose and pointed directly at me.

I frowned, "Now that's just rude," I commented. I met the Thief King's gaze, "Why do you want this?" I asked, placing a protective grasp around the pendant, shielding it from him, "It's just a piece of jewelry." I said, shrugging. I didn't like where this conversation was going.

He chuckled darkly, "Allison, I suggest if you don't want your mind banished to the shadow realm, you hand over your Millennium Item,"

"Wait how do you know my name?" I gasped, a little surprised.

"The same way you know mine," he replied sarcastically.

Well excuse me for forgetting.

"It's mine, so too bad," I told him childishly, standing up and trying to dodge to his left. I didn't make it very far seeing how Bakura latched onto my arm and painfully twisted it behind my back causing me to yelp, "Oww. Why would you do that?" I wailed.

"I get what I want," he stated. With his free hand he made a grab for the golden heart shaped pendant.

"Where do you think you're touching, hentai." I growled, a vein popping on my forehead.

I'm not sure what happened next. When the ancient spirit held the Millennium Heart in his hand, the item seemed to malfunction, like literally tiny electrical sparks danced about and then there was a blinding flash of white light. The next thing I see is Bakura a few feet away, cradling his hand and glaring at me furiously. Hey, it's not my fault he was electrocuted, he shouldn't have tried to steal the pendant in the first place.

I grinned at him, "Well I guess you don't always get what you want."

The Millennium Ring began to hover, all five of its 'fingers' pointing out in different directions, "Do you know what the Shadow Realm is, my dear Allison?" Bakura asked quietly.

"Maybe," I squeaked.

He opened his mouth and then shut it, his glare intensifying. It looked like he was having a silent conversation with someone, Ryou I hoped. After about five seconds, the Millennium Ring returned back to its original position and I let out a sigh of relief- although that didn't last too long. I once again found my arm in the grasp of the thief king. Please don't twist it again, I prayed, watching him carefully.

"Consider yourself lucky Allison," Bakura said, "There's someone who's very interested in meeting you. Let's go."

"Go where?" I asked, trying to pull my arm back. I glanced behind me at the glass building, Yugi and Kaiba were still dueling.

"You'll see."

But I don't want to. I want to go back. As I made another attempt to rip my arm free, I only succeeded in making Bakura stop in his tracks and face me- my arm still in his iron tight grasp.

"Keep on doing that, dear Allie, and I'll break your arm." he said.

I cringed as he said my nickname. I always thought Bakura was so cool, and he still is, but he's so mean. He doesn't need to threaten me with grievous bodily harm. I made a face at him, "You could just ask me nicely,"

"I doubt that would work," he shot back dryly.

I shrugged, he was right, it wouldn't but it wouldn't do any harm.

After what seemed like hours of walking, I finally just sat down, not caring I was in the middle of the street or the fact that Bakura was scary. I was tired and hungry and extremely hot. Of course

I had informed Bakura of all this as we walked, but he refused to let me rest. Well who's laughing now?

"What's wrong now?" Bakura demanded, turning around.

I looked up at him, "I'm hungry," I said in a matter of fact way.

"Too bad," he replied, tugging on my arm.

I glared up at him, "Yes it is too bad. I'm not moving until I eat something," I said stubbornly.

Bakura tried to motivate me to move, calling me really mean names and threatening to eat my soul or seal my mind into a rock, but it didn't work. Now if he had been nice to me in the first place, I would've ignored my hunger and need to rest but seeing as he practically broke my arm, I don't mind acting rude towards him.

"Fine, wench, if I get you food, will you get up?" Bakura growled.

"Pretty much," I replied back.

The thief king stormed away, grumbling under his breath. I was tempted to run away, but I was too tired and I doubt I really would have made it that far anyways; I would've gotten lost at some point. Besides, I didn't mind being kidnapped by Bakura, it was fun being forced to follow him around. Since he wasn't trying to steal the Millennium Heart and he wasn't trying to banish me to the shadow realm, I assumed he was taking me to Domino Pier- and that is where I wanted to go anyways. So it was a win-win situation.

"Here,"

A small plastic package was thrown in my face, catching me off guard.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. I quickly pulled open the plastic- Bakura had bought me a croissant. I was suddenly dragged to my feet and forced to walk again, my wrist back in his grasp.

We continued walking in silence, but I didn't mind.

"Hey what happened to your duel disk?" I randomly asked. I remembered Ryou helping me get one.

"None of your business," Bakura snapped.

His tone suggested otherwise.

After a while of walking, I could finally see a large body of shimmering water and knew we were close. Now that I think about it, it was really simple getting to Domino Pier, we've been walking in a straight line. As we approached one particular warehouse type building, I noticed to figures standing by the doorway.

"Hey!" I called out, giving a friendly wave to Joey and Tea, but they only stood still. Duh Allie, I slapped myself mentally, like Joey and Tea would willing be standing there.

I was thrown through the door and I lost my footing causing myself to fall flat on my face. "Ompf," I turned my head and glared at Bakura who was smirking at me. Was that really necessary? I would have walked inside if he had told me to…maybe, okay no. The next thing I know, I'm being manhandled and placed onto a chair where something gold is thrust into my face.

"Prepare to be my mind slave Allie."

Oh, crap.

* * *

So you may have noticed in this chapter that Allie's ramblings were not dealt with. Well that's because she doesn't remember what she said and Yugi doesn't know how to bring it up. I may deal with it next chapter. Okay so if Bakura seemed like a jerk in this chapter, he's not going to be and neither is Marik. It's just you know, first impressions. When they all get on the blimp, I have a nasty surprise in store for Allie, Bakura and Marik :D

Also I wasn't sure how Kaiba was going to thank Allie for saving Mokuba. As if he'd say 'thank-you' No that's an honor just for Yugi. I figured giving her a duel monsters card would fit that or like money or something. Not really sure.

When Allie makes a comment 'now that's just rude' if you didn't get it, she was referring to the fact the ring was technically giving her the finger lol.

**ありがとう！****:**

**YankeeSamson** Oh Allie is in for quite a shock when she realizes what she's done lol.

**Aqua Girl 007 **Again none taken. It was so long to write, it almost makes me not want to write another one. But I had fun writing it and yes the game is actually quite complicated, Even I'm not sure on all the rules.

**alexanimelvr **she is definitely going to regret it.

**EgyptianSoul88 **Poor Yami, only he knows what she said. Don't know how he's going to tell her, it's embarrassing for him too lol.

**YamiHeart** Great minds think alike xD A mary-sue is a character that is too perfect, has no flaws and is liked by everybody. You can google for a more detailed definition since I just paraphrased and gave you the simplest answer. Like for example if Allie had befriended everyone in the first five seconds, been the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's Knight, won her duel against the rare hunter, escaped Bakura and saved Joey and Tea that would definitely be considered marysue. I don't know if I really explained it properly.

**Danyeda** Yes on a technicality she won, but for her she lost since she passed out. My lips are sealed on the situation with the Pharaoh's Knight.

**xXSilver MirrorsXx **Alright well Bakura's finally in the picture and next chapter so is Marik. Next chapter Allie is going to aggravate the hell out of him though. I hope Bakura was in character and that I portrayed him okay. I was trying to make him half funny and half serious/scary.

**Renji's-Chicka **Oh he'll find out about that, soon enough.

**tikarose **Thanks

**Aurineko **Glad you found that funny.

**NightSkyForLife **Yeah its name was really long, she mostly forgot it because I forgot it and I was too lazy to scroll up and see what its name was xp

**Review!**

**I love reading them :D**

**Allie says thank you to all those who enjoy her antics**

**No Flames**

**新年快**乐！

**Happy Chinese New Year (Rabbit)**

**ZTL**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N- **Whoa another post before my SATs! Warning, there may or may not be some OOC Marik, but that's only because Allie annoyed him, otherwise he is just fine to be around. Thank you to all who reviewed, I love them. Again the title for this chapter sucks, but I honestly couldn't think of anything better. Enjoy ^^

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

Shadow Realm Proof

I closed my eyes out of pure reflex and recoiled backwards, waiting for the inevitable.

"I should warn you though, I'd make a horrible mind slave," I whimpered.

"And she never stops talking," came a snide comment from Bakura somewhere off to my right.

I flashed my eyes open at his remark, trying to shoot the tomb robber a glare. Instead the Eye of Horus was jabbed in front of my face blocking my view from the thief king. I glowered up in defiance at the possessor of the Millennium Rod, it was Odion.

"Ah no need to blind me!" I yelped, jerking my head backward to avoid having my eye poked out by the Rod. Odion grunted under his breath, not caring about my safety.

"I brought you the girl, now give me your Millennium Item," Bakura hissed from his spot.

"Be patient Bakura," a voice replied from behind me, "You'll have the Millennium Rod soon enough."

I twisted my head around and caught a glimpse of blonde hair and dark skin. Marik glanced at me with narrowed lavender orbs, a wolfish grin spread across his handsome face. If it wasn't for the fact that he was about to turn me into a mindless idiot, I would be gawking at him. Instead I made a face and 'hmph-ed' him, turning back to Odion.

Marik laughed, "No need to be moody my dear Allie, you'll enjoy becoming my mind slave,"

Oh my gosh, why do they keep saying 'my dear'? It's really annoying. I continued giving Marik the cold shoulder. The ice blonde walked forward over towards the thief king.

"For now Bakura, stick to the plan and enter Seto Kaiba's silly tournament and win six locater cards," Marik said.

"Fine," the spirit snapped reluctantly, folding his arms, "Where do I get a duel disk and locater cards?" he asked.

I didn't like the way Marik turned his head and looked at me nor did I like it when Bakura started staring at me too.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as Odion painfully grabbed my arm and slid off the duel disk. Before I could make a grab from my duel disk, I was restrained by the other rare hunters standing by and forced to sit back in my chair. I watched angrily as Odion manhandled my deck, took my locater cards and then tossed my cards to the floor. He walked over to the two egotistical jerks and handed my stuff to his master.

"I'm sure sweet Allie won't mind lending you her duel disk and locater cards," Marik chuckled, "After all she won't be needing them anymore."

Bakura placed my duel disk on his arm and held my two locater cards in his hand. Brown eyes flashed in my direction, "Only two locater cards? What kind of a duelist are you?" he sneered.

I attempted to stand up again but I was just pulled back down. "Bakura, if I wasn't stuck to this chair, I'd drop kick you into the next century!" I threatened, struggling to make a run for him.

"Dear Allie, you'll find you'll be much happier if you didn't threaten me," the thief king smirked, pocketing my locater cards and pushing himself off the wall. The two males exchanged a meaningful look and then Bakura disappeared out the front door.

"Well my dear, I think I've stalled your enslavement for long enough now," Marik grinned, placing his hand behind him and withdrawing the real Millennium Rod from his belt, "And since you know who I am, there's no point in Odion pretending to be me-"

I opened my mouth to protest and argue that I really would make a crummy mind slave.

"-and since you obviously have no aptitude for dueling, I'll make you my personal mind slave," Marik finished, smirking arrogantly.

I gasped and then glared at him. There was no need to state the obvious in such a mean way. His words crushed me flat. "I can too duel," I retorted lamely, not enjoying being insulted. Marik casually strolled over, stopping just before me, extending his arm outward.

Oh crap, I thought, biting my lower lip. The Eye of Horus flared glittery white and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for my impending doom. After a few moments of nothing I dared myself to peak one eye open. I found Marik giving me an incredulous look.

"What?" I asked, panicking that something went wrong.

"How can this be?" he growled, glaring at his Millennium Rod. Marik shook his head, "Never mind then. I'll just send you to the shadow realm," he declared, brandishing his Millennium Rod into my face again.

"Wait, don't I have to lose a duel or something?" I said.

Marik chuckled, "That rule only applies to duelist, which as of five minutes ago, you were, but now you are not. Bye Allie."

I cringed, no I don't want to be sent the shadow realm. I waited with baited breath, terrified, my heart racing. Oh jinxed luck don't fail me now, I chanted silently.

"Again?" the tomb keeper roared, making an unintelligible frustrated noise.

Yes! I cheered, grinning at him, no shadow realm for me today thank you very much. It was then I noticed Marik staring at my chest…or rather what was resting against my chest. His hand shot out, fingers grabbing hold of the pendant.

"An eighth Millennium Item?" he muttered to himself, flipping the pendant over and reading the hieroglyphs, "No, something else. A different power belonging to the Egyptian God, Slifer the Sky Dragon."

A tingling sensation prickled my nose…oh no, "Can you step away before I- I- I- ACHOO!" Too late to warn him. I sneezed, my head propelling forward crashing straight into Marik's forehead as the blonde was too focused on the gold heart around my neck.

"Ooh, OWW!" I yelped. For every action there is a reaction. I skull bashed Marik ergo Marik skull bashed me.

I think I broke my head.

The world is spinning and I'm seeing spots, that can't be a good thing.

-X-

"Welcome Pharaoh to my very special dueling arena."

Oh my head hurts. Who is shouting? I groggily cracked an eye open, my surroundings were blurry. After a couple of blinks, things started to clear. Where exactly was I anyways?

"…if you attempt to stop this duel, the crate you see hanging over my head will fall."

I looked around, what crate? And more importantly who was Marik talking to? I rubbed my head tenderly, Sam would definitely laugh until he dropped dead from lack of oxygen when I told him I sneezed and knocked myself unconscious. Congratulations Allie, you have reached a whole new level of being a klutz, I thought grimly.

Am I on a boat? I hope it's not moving otherwise Marik is in for one nasty surprise. I scanned the area trying to figure out what was going on. Based on my observations I am in a warehouse, not the same one as before seeing that I'm sitting cross-legged on a boat. The boat is thankfully not moving and Marik is talking dramatically to no one. Oh and also there's an invisible crate hanging over his head.

"Is that so Yugi? I say you're in no position to make threats."

I cocked my head to the side and leaned to my right, trying to peer past Marik. Yugi was here? Well great, now he could rescue me. Oh wait a minute, I'm not tied up. I can just escape myself, but first let's go see what Marik's doing. I slowly stood up, careful not to make a sound. Marik was still rambling as I approached him, stopping just a foot away from him.

"We'll just see about that Yugi. Joey belongs to me now, thanks to my Millennium Rod. So destroy your former best friend my mind puppet and strip him of all that he has so that I may rule the world as Pharaoh."

I looked around, there was no Yugi or Joey for that matter, why was Marik talking to himself? "Okay you do know that taking away Yugi's clothes is not, in any way, going to help you rule the world?" I said trying to keep a straight face. Oh this was fun, messing with the tomb keeper.

The ice blonde whipped around, lavender orbs narrowed in an annoyed glare. I grinned at him, "Hi," I said.

"Oh hurray, the halfwit lives. And here I thought you would have the sense not to ever show your face again," Marik drawled sarcastically.

I chuckled nervously, "It's not my fault I sneezed," I protested, "And if you want, you can think of it as karma for trying to make me your mind slave and then trying to send me to the shadow realm," I joked.

"Yes, too bad it didn't work," he replied.

Thank you lucky heart shaped pendant. I rolled my eyes, "Fine, then you can think of it as pay back for giving my stuff to Bakura. It was mine!" I huffed, stomping my foot down.

"Well it's not like you were ever going to make it to Battle City Finals," he retorted dryly.

I gasped dramatically, "That's mean!" I told him, "What if I said, "Well it's not like your ever going to get Yugi's power so why do you even bother trying'?"

Marik chuckled, "That's where you're wrong my dear. I am going to defeat the Pharaoh and win the Millennium Puzzle, which rightfully belongs to me!"

I scoffed, "No it doesn't," I said, "And what part of 'King of Games', don't you understand? You're not going to win." I smirked.

The blonde broke out into a wolfish grin, "I've found the Pharaoh's weakness. Pitting his worthless friend Joey against him. The Pharaoh won't dare to harm his friends."

"Yeah, but he's still going to win," I grinned.

"Believe what you want, Allie," Marik said, turning away.

I was tempted to point out that Yugi beat all of Marik's rare hunters, who all cheated somehow. There was the first skeleton one that beat up Joey, he had multiple copies of Exodia and yet he still couldn't summon it- total fail. Next was the stupid gay clown, Arcana, who had three Dark Magicians in his deck, and he even cut the cards so he could find them easier- that didn't help him. Then there was that ugly goth mime who had Slifer the Sky Dragon in his deck- he's the only one who didn't cheat. And lastly were those two yin yang rare hunters, whose decks were especially assembled to take down Yugi- and Yugi couldn't even summon strong monsters.

But you know what, I think letting Marik find out on his own and then giving a good old fashioned 'I told you so' will feel much more satisfying.

"Make your move, Yugi."

Oh great, Marik's gone back to talking to himself.

Do you think he'd notice if I left? Would he even care?

I slowly started to back up, keeping a watchful eye on the schizophrenic in front of me.

"Going somewhere, Ms. Grey?"

I glanced up to find Odion leering down at me, I chuckled, "Uhh no?"

"Hn,"

I scowled, crossing my arms and stomping over to the other side of the boat. First Marik wants me, then Marik tells me to never show my face to him again, now he's not letting me leave this stupid boat? He really needs to learn how to make up his mind.

-X-

"I will not be denied my fate!"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head in disbelief.

I can see the headlines now: Girl of seventeen found dead on a boat. Cause of death- driven to insanity by Marik Ishtar's inability to shut up. Gee, what a wonderful way to go. At this rate, I'll be dead just in time to make it for today's evening news.

I wish Marik had banished me to the shadow realm, at least there it's quiet. It feels like he's been ranting for hours, but it hasn't even been one hour. He just goes on and on, but the worst part is he's repeating himself. For forty minutes the only things that have come out of Marik's mouth are: 'I will destroy the Pharaoh', and 'I deserve to be the Pharaoh'- in different variations, but nonetheless it's still all the same.

"Say good-bye to your puzzle, little Yugi!"

I should have left when I had the chance, back when I first regained consciousness, because now I'm actually stuck here, like handcuffed to the railing stuck here- forced to listen to Marik's endless babbling- and Bakura thinks I'm a talkaholic. Lucky bastard gets to roam free. He should be here too, suffering. If you're wondering why I've been chained to the railing it's because earlier I tackled Marik to the ground screaming 'No Joey, don't pick the Red-Eyes, don't pick the Red-Eyes!'.

"He's not going to do it," I sang out, idly pulling at my chain.

Marik ignored me and continued his inane ravings.

"Fine, don't listen to me," I grumbled, sending the blonde a dirty look. I received a sharp glare from Odion in return, to which I stuck my tongue out at him.

-X-

Marik Ishtar, the boy who thinks he's fit to rule the world, is having a royal temper tantrum.

Okay, I may be exaggerating a little, but he is having some sort of hissy fit. It's highly entertaining and is way better than having to listen to him ramble.

"Quiet," Marik snapped, throwing me a scowl.

I failed miserably to hide my amusement, "I told you, Yugi's going to win. Believe me now?" I asked, stifling a laugh.

"It was just a fluke, it won't happen again," Marik said, running a hand through his sexy blonde hair and calming down.

Marik had gotten tired of standing at the front of his boat and so he moved to the inside, taking me along with him. Now I get to watch him sit in a chair and talk to himself, which I think is makes him look even more foolish than before, but I'll just keep that to myself.

"You're control over Joey isn't going to last much longer." I said, "He's broken free three times now."

Marik chuckled darkly, "You may be right about that pathetic Joey, but it doesn't matter at this point. I will win the Pharaoh's puzzle and then once I've won, little Yugi will be dragged to the bottom of the sea."

Oh no, he's starting to repeat himself again. Can't let that happen.

"Hey can I ask you a question?" I interjected, before Marik could start up again about his destiny.

"You just did," he responded wryly, propping an elbow on the table and resting his head against his hand.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Okay, I'm going to take that for a yes. My question to you is, why am I here? You've already stated that I can't duel, so I doubt you're going to pit me against Yugi. You can't take over my mind or banish me to the shadow realm. I'm totally useless-"

"So you aren't as stupid as you look," Marik smirked.

I glared at him, jerk, "-to you," I deadpanned, "So why am I here?" I asked, returning back to my original point.

He shrugged, "You're presence is so unimportant to me, that I've already forgotten."

"Gee thanks," I said sarcastically.

"You're welcome,"

I sighed, "So if you don't care whether or not I'm here, can't I just go?"

Marik 'hmm-ed', "Well I suppose you could…but where's the fun in that?" he sniggered, tracing his finger along the edge of a glass filled with ice, "And besides, you are useful to me in a way. With you missing, little Yugi won't be able to focus properly which will result in me winning what is rightfully mine."

Shut up!

"You're wrong if you think Yugi cares that I'm missing," I lied, "We only met yesterday. We're not very close at all," I added.

"Yes, that's why he ran all over Domino City looking for you yesterday. And why he took over the duel when you lost," Marik replied.

I tried not to let Marik see how crushed I was at the mention of the duel. It hurt to know that I lost, because I had made a big deal of winning. I slapped myself mentally, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. "He'd have done that for anybody," I countered.

"I highly doubt that."

"Master Marik," Odion appeared at the archway, getting down on one knee and bowing, "Bakura has returned."

The adopted Ishtar rose and stepped to the side, allowing the thief king to enter.

Bakura strode in, flashing me a glance, "You're still here?" he questioned, looking a Marik.

"Excuse me?" I growled.

"There was a minor setback with Allie," Marik answered, shrugging.

Bakura 'hn-ed', "I've done as you told me, now hand over your Millennium Item to me,"

Oh my gosh, what is with these people? Must they repeat themselves over and over?

"In time, but not before I destroy the Pharaoh-"

"BAKURA! WHERE IS MY DUEL DISK?" I shrieked, noticing Kaiba's latest piece of technology missing from his arm.

"Somewhere…" he replied vaguely.

"YOU LOST MY DUEL DISK?" I yelled, jumping to my feet. I may be short compared to his 6'0 but let me tell you, height is not going to stop me from hurting him.

Bakura obviously did not find me intimidating, "Allie, continue yelling and I might just send you to the shadow realm for eternity."

That threat did not bother me.

"Oh yes, that was the minor setback," Marik interrupted, "Dear Allie is protected by ancient egyptian magic which shields her from the shadow realm."

Bakura glared at Marik, "I see," he muttered quietly.

Marik smirked, "If you're going to enter Seto Kaiba's tournament, you're going to need another duel disk," he pointed out.

The thief king scowled, "Marik, I've done everything you've told me to do and have received nothing in return. My patience is wearing thin."

"Just a little bit longer, I assure you Bakura, once this is over, the Millennium Rod is yours," Marik said smoothly, twirling said item like a baton.

The ancient spirit remained unamused. Suddenly his hand darted out and latched onto my arm, dragging me closer to him, "Until you hand over the Millennium Item, you don't get Allie," he said.

I gaped at him, what kind of a threat was that? I am not some tradable item.

Marik laughed, "By all means take Allie. She is of no further use to me, seeing as I'm about to win the Pharaoh's power."

I rolled my eyes, "For the last time, you're not going to win!" I explained in a tired voice.

Bakura laughed as well, which slightly surprised me, "Obviously your Millennium Item is not as great as it seems," he stated.

Amethyst eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?" Marik asked.

Once again, brown eyes glanced in my direction, answering Marik's question. Bakura sent a smug grin towards the blonde, "That's for me to know and you to find out as soon as you keep your end of the bargain," he replied. Bakura turned around and headed out the door- I had no choice but to follow.

We only got about a few steps out the door when I felt a firm hand grab my free hand.

"No Odion, let dear Allie go. We'll see her very shortly," Marik said.

"Yes, Master Marik."

Once outside and away from the egyptian jerk, I turned to Bakura, "You owe me one duel disk."

"I don't care," he said flatly, "We've got more important things to do."

I raised a brow, "We?" I echoed.

"Should I add hearing to your list of disabilities, Allie?" Bakura asked sarcastically

"No, but maybe I should add it to yours," I retorted hotly, "You owe me a duel disk."

The thief king scowled, "Fine!" he grumbled reluctantly, "But the only reason I'm going to do this for you is because I need another one anyways. Consider yourself lucky that you can't be banished to the shadow realm, Allie. As soon as you lose that Millennium Item around your neck, I'm going to send you there. "

I nodded, "Glad we see eye to eye."

* * *

Alright so how many of you thought Allie would be controlled by Marik? Haha gotcha ;D By the way, Allie does actually know that Marik is talking through Joey to Yugi and not to himself, she was joking with him. Whenever Allie and Marik are in the same room, Marik is going to be ooh because Allie just annoys him and vice versa. Again I know I didn't deal with her ramblings, but I'll get to that when she gets on the blimp and she's alone with Yami...I have the SAT exam in dun dun dun less than two hours. OMG! All of you that get to enjoy your Friday night, LUCKY! I'm so jealous. I got so stressed out that I had to stop studying and write- ugh that's going to come back and bite me on the butt T_T Anyways, to kick off your TGI Friday, you get an update. Hope you enjoyed.

**Everyone who reviewed deserves a double chocolate fudge brownie: YankeeSamson** I think this definitely counts as a break lol, **MegassaTheBomber**, **EgyptainSoul88 **To be sealed in a rock for eternity, how boring would that be? But if Bakura carried the rock around…maybe lol, **Aqua girl 007** good luck with writing your duel scene ^^, **NightSkyForLife **Yes that is going to be an ongoing joke until the end or until Kaiba finally installs a clock function into his duel disks, **tikarose **Nope haven't forgotten, just haven't found a chance to talk about them, **Aurineko **The world is not screwed yet, maybe later though lol, **ribii**, **Yamiheart **Marik would need legal documents for a name change in order for Allie to be steved lol, **grapejuice101**, **xX Silver Mirrors Xx** haha that cracked me up, so funny, **FallingxForever **and last but not least, **aquabless**

**Review!**

**The more the better ;D**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or its characters**

**A/N: **OMG thank you guys so much for the awesome reviews. You have no idea how thrilled I was to read them after I got home from the SAT's. To find so many waiting in my inbox was just perfect and totally made my day. I've had a very stressful week so beware of the quality of the chapter. I tried my best. Warning: a little ooc Bakura. BTW this chapter takes place right after the previous one. Anyways on with the story ^^

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

Jokes

"Hey Bakura?" I said in a sugary sweet voice.

The thief king whipped around, an annoyed glared lingering in his brown orbs, "What now?" he seethed.

I rolled my eyes, ignoring his hostile attitude, "You know, not every time a girl opens her mouth, she needs something," I informed him cheekily, giving him a toothy grin.

Bakura snorted, "Could have fooled me," he muttered.

I shook my head, ignoring his comment, "Hey nobody forced you to bring me along, you did that all by yourself. Now you have to deal with the consequences." I retorted, folding my arms and giving him a look.

A sly grin spread across his face, "Would you rather I have left you with Marik?"

"No," I replied quickly.

"Anyways girl, what is it that you want this time?" Bakura asked, placing a mocking finger to his chin, "An ice cream sundae with pearl sprinkles? Maine lobster served on a plate made of gold? A flying pony? Immortality? The Pharaoh's blessing? Ooh maybe the ability to be able to duel perhaps?"

With every suggestion Bakura added, the bigger the vein on my forehead grew. Hmm...maybe being stuck with Marik might have been a good idea after all. Bakura's insults were on the borderline of abuse. All I asked him was to rest a couple of times. It's not like I asked him to run around trying to catch smoke with a bamboo cage. Sheesh. As the tomb robber continued to ramble, a sudden idea hit me.

"...or maybe you want the world?" Bakura mused, "Well too bad, it belongs to me."

"I thought it belonged to Marik," I replied.

"The fool only-"

I rolled my eyes, I didn't care who it belonged to. All I cared about was shutting Bakura up. With one hard shove, the white haired albino went flying off the edge of the pier and straight into the icey water. His brown eyes were as round as saucers, glaring hatefully as he fell back. I started howling with laughter as he created a giant splash- just the very idea that the thief king could be caught off guard was hilarious. And his face expression was priceless. He honestly didn't see it coming.

I leaned over the edge, watching Bakura with an amused smirk as he floated up to the surface, spluttering. "Oh by the way," I called out, "Just a pair of silver hoops and crystal pumps will do."

"Girl!" Bakura hissed, "I am going to torture you slowly to your death!"

I couldn't stop laughing, "Oh c'mon Bakura, it was just a joke. Lighten up," I stated, grinning.

The ancient spirit frowned, "A joke?" he muttered to himself.

"Yeah y'know, it's like a prank played on someone in order to make them look foolish and to amuse others," I explained with half seriousness in case Bakura really didn't know what I meant. After all he was a five thousand year old spirit. Maybe joke wasn't in his rude vocabulary. "It's not meant to be taken seriously," I added.

"I see," Bakura said in an unusually calm manner, "Girl, help me up," he ordered, swimming over and extending his arm upward.

"Allie," I said.

"What?" he questioned with furrowed brows.

"You called me Allie back on Marik's boat. You can't just start calling me 'girl' after calling me Allie. You have to call me Allie or Grey," I said, grabbing his hand.

Instead of pulling Bakura up, a sharp yank from said boy had me falling forward, plunging head first into the freezing cold water. I wasn't even able to scream, but I did open my mouth, allowing nasty salt water to enter it. I thought it was strange Bakura took the joke so well. I should have known he wasn't really asking for my help. I swam up to the surface and glared at the thief king.

"You jerk!" I said, teeth chattering slightly. I whacked Bakura on the arm, "That was not nice."

Bakura smirked, "It was a joke," he replied simply, "A trick played on someone in order to make them look foolish and to amuse others," he recited perfectly.

"But now we're both wet!" I complained, swimming over to the pier and resting against the cool, barnacle covered concrete.

"Tit for tat," the thief king said in a matter of fact way.

A rouge wave chose at that moment to flatten us.

"My cards!" I shrieked as I noticed a familiar mahogany color float by. I glared at Bakura again. He only smirked in return. Realizing he wasn't going to help me collect my cards, I began to madly dog paddle, blindly groping for them.

"Don't fret _Allie_," I heard Bakura drawl, "Your cards won't damage that easily,"

"I'm not worried about that," I snapped, "My brother is going to kill me if I lose any of his cards." I ducked under water, reaching for another card. After another five minutes of searching and Bakura's wise ass and unhelpful comments, we were back on dry land; totally soaked to the bone though.

"Well I hope you're happy," Bakura spat as he pulled himself up.

"A little water never hurt anybody," I shot back, grinning.

"Yes well I hope you get pneumonia and die," he hissed, glaring daggers.

I made a face, "Hey that's not a nice thing to say. What if I actually do get pneumonia and die? Then it'll be on your conscience for the rest of your life," I said, twisting my hair and squeezing the sea water out.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "I think I can live with that."

I snorted and shrugged off my parka, "You say that now Bakura, but just you wait until I'm gone, then you'll be sorry." I said. I glanced outward towards the open sea; it shimmered brightly with orange and pink.

"I highly doubt that."

I gave him a cheshire cat like grin, "You will cos you liiiiiike me," I purred, enjoying every moment of teasing the thief king.

"You're delusional."

I chuckled, "No I'm not. I keep things 'interesting'," I said, quoting Marik. "Life would be totally dull without me." I stood up and stretched, looking at the sunset, "And besides if you didn't like me then you wouldn't have dragged me along in the first place." I grinned smugly at him. Ha ha I win.

Bakura stood up as well, "You are right in one aspect of your illogical statement," he smirked, "You do keep things…interesting!"

There was no time to react to his actions.

"BAKURA YOU'RE SUCH A JERK!" I screeched angrily as I stumbled backwards…back into the water.

-X-

"I'm cold!" I complained, "I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm freezing. And I'm barefoot!" I sent a glare at Bakura, the cause of my pain.

He smirked, "The last one is not my fault."

I gasped, "Yes it is. You pushed me back in the water causing me to lose my shoe," I said. My gaze darted back and forth as we walked down a street in Domino; people were giving us odd looks.

"Are you always this catty?" the tomb robber asked, his arrogant smirk still on his handsome face.

I scowled, unamused at his humor, "I am so not like a cat. If anyone's a cat it's you. Yeah," I said, nodding my head, "You're just like this cat that lives next door to me. His name is Jack. He's this fat, old, grumpy, cat."

"Funny, Allie," Bakura rasped.

I couldn't help but crack a grin, "But seriously, I'm sooo cold. I will like die of the cold." I hugged myself tighter. I looked like something the cat dragged in. I had pieces of seaweed randomly stuck to different areas of me. My hair smelled like salt water. I really needed a shower.

"We don't have time to waste on your petty problem," the thief king stated, "I must acquire another duel disk and head towards the hidden location."

Bakura would really make me walk around barefoot and wet? The insensitive jerk. Fine two could play hard ball. "I have some very interesting information that you might like to know," I said slyly.

"Oh really?" he replied, folding his arms and staring at me.

"Really," I nodded my head, "But you have do something for me first if you want to know what it is that I know," Man that's a confusing sentence to say.

"How do I know that you're not bluffing in order to get what you want?" Bakura questioned coolly.

Aside from the fact that I'm not from this world and I know everything that's supposed to happen? I scoffed, "Please, I spent an hour cooped up with Marik. He's not very good at understanding the art of secrecy and knowing when to shut up. He talked, about Yugi, the Egyptian God Cards and he definitely mentioned you, mainly calling you a complete idiot," Yes! Hook, line and sinker. I could see the rage boiling in the thief's eyes.

"Tell me what you know," he hissed, curling his hands into fists.

"First help me, then I'll tell you. I swear." I said.

"Fine," he grumbled, "What do you want this time?"

"I want a shower. And some clothes. That is all," I replied simply.

It was evident by the look on Bakura's face that he was expecting a lot worse.

"What?" I asked, "I'm not totally evil."

-X-

Well I didn't get my shower, but I did get new clothes. I still smell like the sea and my hair is all knotty and tangled, but at least I am dry.

Shopping with Bakura has proved quite interesting and something I am in no hurry to ever do again with him. He's a horrible shopping partner and he doesn't understand the concept of style. He just grabbed the first items he found and handed them to me. I ended up picking clothes similar to my originals; a spaghetti strapped white tank top with a strange design imprinted on the back and a pair of grey jean shorts. As for shoes, well there weren't any normal stores around and so I was forced…err Bakura was forced to buy me girly shoes. I chose the easiest pair to wear which were black, cork wedges. A bit later I got cold again and so we had to stop at another store where I got an olive green zip up hoodie. My poor clothes had to be thrown away- I really loved my parka.

Bakura scarred three people for life, one at each store. At the first one the store attendant had the misfortune of mistaking the thief king for a girl and then to add insult to injury, tried to make him wear a dress. Bakura snapped at her, yelling all kinds of painful threats while make sure to insult me at least fifty times. At the second store, the cashier commented on what a nice sibling relationship we had, sending Bakura into another rage. He practically shouted him to death, insulting his intelligence and hurling abusive remarks at me. The third store attendant was just an unlucky bastard, mistaking us for a 'cute' couple. Bakura, after shouting some more, banished him to the shadow realm.

"Why are you doing that?" Bakura questioned sharply as we walked down a crowded street; I being dressed in fresh clothes courtesy of Bakura and the invention of blackmail.

I raised a brow, "Doing what?" I asked, not sure to what he was referring to.

"That," he said, pointing his finger at my face.

I frowned, "What?"

Bakura scowled and then mirrored my expression before returning to scowling again.

"You mean smiling?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes," he rasped.

"It's something that I do when I'm happy," I said as if I were talking to a little child, "I know it might be hard for you seeing as your face might crack," I chuckled.

He made a gagging sound in response. "So Allie," Bakura said suddenly, "I kept my end of the bargain, it is only fair you return the favor,"

I shrugged, Bakura did keep his end of the deal, so I guess it was only fair to spill the beans, "Marik has no intentions of handing over his Millennium Rod nor is he going to tell you where the other Items are located. Also you're a pawn in his master plan to destroy Yugi and get his Egyptian God Cards back." I spat out automatically.

For a moment Bakura didn't react as he processed the information. I glanced at him warily, placing a good two feet in-between us, "Why are you doing that?" I asked, frowning.

"Doing what, Allie?" he replied in a smooth fox like voice.

"Smiling," I deadpanned.

Bakura laughed darkly, "I am happy," he stated, "According to your abysmal logic, smiling is supposed to occur when I am feeling contentment,"

I shook my head, Bakura was twisting my words in his favor, manipulative bastard. "Yeah well it's weird. It looks like you're plotting to go on a killing spree," I said with somewhat alarm, putting even more distance between us just in case I happened to be on his list of people to kill.

"Marik is an arrogant fool," the tomb robber said, "-if he thinks he can trick me so easily. When I take his Millennium Item from him, I will make sure to banish him to the shadow realm, permanently."

"Ooh you should seal his mind into a rock," I added cheerfully.

"Nice try Allie, but that honor is for you only. Once I figure out a way to take your Millennium Item away from you, I will seal your ignorant mind into a grain of sand." Bakura sneered.

I mock pouted, "Aw and here I thought we were friends," I joked, laughing as he glared viciously at me. I wouldn't call Bakura a friend, more like a guy who I can talk to. He's my talk-to buddy.

"You disgust me," was his answer.

-X-

Bakura that jerk. I am going to seriously injure him when I see him. He ditched me. DITCHED ME. He ditched me in the middle of the street. Even I'm not sure what happened. One moment he was next to me, the next he was gone. Almost like magic- note the sarcasm.

Now I'm all by myself…again. I have no clue where to go. This is so frustrating. What did I do to piss Bakura off?

"Hey," I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I whipped around and snapped, "What?" I immediately apologized, "Sorry," I muttered.

"You're Yugi's friend, Allie, right?"

I turned around again to take a better look at the person behind me, "Yeah," I said, my voice trailing off as I stared openly and stupidly at Duke Devlin. What are the odds of running into him and here of all places?

"Everybody's looking for you," Duke informed me.

Ah that explained it.

"Cools," I grinned, not really caring what was coming out of my mouth. I was too busy checking Duke out.

"Alright we should get going then," Duke said, walking ahead.

"Okie dokie," See look, utter gibberish is spewing from my mouth and although I probably should care, but I don't.

* * *

And that brings us to a lovely conclusion of the delinquent duo (Allie and Bakura) She'll go back to hanging with Yami and Yugi and I'm pretty sure her ramblings will be brought to light. Sorry if Bakura was ooc, I tried not to make him sound too caring or that he liked Allie in any way, hence why he ditched her. Actually what really happened was he told her to wait, but she wasn't listening and so Allie walked off leaving Bakura behind. So actually she ditched him, LOL. Anyways now Duke has found her, yay for Allie. She's not going to die in Domino City. Sorry about the thing with the clothes, I had to add it in there. I messed up in the beginning and I didn't give her the right clothes, so I had to find a way to make her wear those clothes. I know the ending is fast, sorry. If I can think of something better, I will go back and edit.

Another note that I keep forgetting to put in is that I took out the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl from Allie's deck. Any mention of either cards has been replaced with Chaos Command Magician and Magician's Valkyria. I decided that really DM and DMG belong to Yugi and that Allie doesn't really need them. I have found a cool pair of Magicians for Allie. I had written a longer note, but I don't remember what I said.

Another note: WOOT this is officially my longest story, words, reviews and chapters wise.

**THANK YOU, YOU GUYS. YA'LL REALLY MADE MY DAY: Aqua girl 007- **aww poors you :'( Hope your finals went okay. Too much stress is bad for you so take a break once in a while ;D **NightSkyForLife**- someone must have been talking about her. What bad timing lol. **Aurineko- **gah the horror the horror, but I'm just glad I don't have to think about the SAT until May. **Danyeda-** glad you're back, I was wondering where you went. **YankeeSamson- **so do I. It would be really awesome if I scored well so I don't ever have to look at it again lol. **Yamiheart** Poor Marik, it's a good thing he's not a hypochondriac ;D **xX Silver Mirrors Xx** your review for chapter 12 inspired me and that little dialog at the beginning is the result :D, **Little-Angel-7698**, **looptheloopy**, **EgyptianSoul.88**- lol without magic, Bakura's a jerk xP, **alexanimelvr-** ooh um really 0_o? **Toaster-Omelette** good question and one I don't have an answer to :D AND **FallingxForever**

**Review Review Review!**

**Love reading'em and they bring a smile to my day :D**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Disclaimer: Why do I even bother to write this? We all know I don't own Yugioh.**

**A/N- **Yay an update \(^o^)/ anyways I'm not back for long mainly because school has decided to throw all the heavy stressful work in quarter 3 so it's keeping me quite busy. Ahem about the last chapter, we shall not ever discuss it. It is horrible, but I'm not going to go back and change it sorry ¬¬ I got stuck on this chapter so many times but have finally managed to plow through. Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

Blame Kaiba

"-he ditched me! Can you believe it? I was walking one moment and then I turn around and Bakura's just gone. Gosh he's such a jerk." I huffed, folding my arms crossly. To fill the awkward silence, I decided to rant about how Bakura ditched me.

"Are you sure that's what happened?" Duke asked rationally, "Didn't you say he rescued you from Marik? Why would he go through all that trouble only to leave you by yourself? That sounds counter productive if you ask me, Allie."

Because he's a complete asshole and enjoys causing me pain. I glared at him, but I couldn't really blame Duke since I had told him a really warped up version of how I ended up by myself in the middle of Battle City. If Duke knew the truth, how Bakura forcibly dragged me to Marik's lame hideout, where I was forced to listen to Marik rant nonstop about destroying Yugi and becoming Pharaoh, and treated as some tradable item, and then was subjected to verbal abuse, I think Duke would be on MY side.

"Nope, it sounds just like Bakura alright," I muttered darkly under my breath. I bet he's laughing at me right now, that jerk.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

Duke shrugged his shoulders causally, "Okay. Hey Allie, do you mind explaining to me just who exactly this Marik guy is? Everyone keeps talking about Marik and the Egyptian God Cards, what's going on?"

I stared at the dice user awkwardly as he changed the subject. Didn't anybody bother explaining it to him? I scratched my head thoughtfully, trying to think of a clear explanation, "Mmm…basically Marik is an egotistical, narcissistic, psychotic, schizophrenic nutcase with a king complex and he wants to destroy Yugi and take over the world," wow that's a mouthful, "-the Egyptian God Cards are the three most powerful duel monsters cards and they're one of a kind." I said less dramatically.

"I see," the onyx black haired boy said.

"Mmm," I replied nodding my head, "Yup that's Marik in a nutshell. When you meet him, make sure you have either earplugs or a baseball bat," I advised comically.

Duke arched a brow, "What?"

"Joking about the baseball bat, but seriously, have a pair of earplugs or something with you at all times just incase he starts talking." I told him.

Duke just returned my joke with a confused look- obviously he didn't get it. I rolled my eyes and shook my head muttering for him to forget it. I'll have to find someone who gets how annoying Marik is. After that failed joke, I stopped trying to talk with Duke and began playing with my cards. Well not really playing, but you know strategizing, thinking of possible combos- being productive.

Well I already knew the Fire Princess and Marie The Fallen One combo, that was a no brainer. Now that I look at my cards, that's the only useful combo I have. I don't think my deck really has a specific theme, they're just cards. A couple of them support each other and a few magic and traps protect them, but when I think about them, I don't have any combos. Hmm that can't be good, I'll have to ask someone about trading in cards for different ones.

-X-

"Hey Ag, you're still alive!"

I grinned at the sight of Joey and ran over to him, "Sure am," I replied happily.

"Well it's about time you decided to show up." a cool voice drawled, irritation in his tone.

Urg Kaiba. Where's Yugi?

I glared up pointedly at the arrogant bastard, "Excuse me for being kidnapped by an insane loony," I scoffed, "Do you think I wanted to be verbally abused and treated like a tradable item?" I snapped.

Kaiba folded his arms and smirked, "Allison it's not verbal abuse if Marik merely stated your dueling skills were below that of a toddler, because it's a fact. I bet even a monkey could duel better than you."

_Below that of a toddler…a toddler…even a monkey…better than you…_

_"_Ooh let me at him!" I roared, once his words had sunk in. I made a flying leap towards the CEO, only to be held back by Joey, "Grr…Joey let me go so I can rip him to shreds!" I growled, struggling to escape his hold, "Ooh Kaiba, just you wait," I hissed, trying to push Joey's arms off my waist, "-when you least expect it, I will get you!" I howled angrily.

"Ag," Joey said, "C-calm down."

I scowled and stomped my foot on the ground in displeasure at not being able to cause physical harm to Kaiba. I did send the COLOSSAL jerk the darkest glare I could muster, narrowing my eyes at the smug look on his face. He was enjoying this.

"You are just lucky you're way over there, Kaiba!" I glowered at the brunette and folded my arms.

Joey, sensing that I wasn't going to run over and hit Kaiba, released me, "Don't mind anything Kaiba says, Ag. You're a great duelist, I can tell, so don't let money bags rattle ya," the blonde broke out one of his contagious goofy grins.

I grinned at him a gratefully. Joey's pretty cool when he has his moment.

"Please, this coming from a second rate duelist, it doesn't mean much," Kaia interjected, smirking.

Joey's face turned a dark shade of maroon as he shook his fist at Kaiba in anger and yelled at him. So much for being cool. Hmmm…I wonder if I could convince Joey to plot with me against Kaiba? Duke came over and held Joey back, keeping him from getting disqualified but the sight was amusing to watch.

Kaiba's ice blue gaze trailed over to in front of him and he frowned, "The third finalist has arrived," he announced quietly.

We all turned to look at the entrance to see who would appear. I cocked my head to the side as the figure approached, a gust of dirt obscuring my view. As the dust settled, the figure became more apparent…wait a minute isn't that Ma-

"Namu?" Joey exclaimed.

"What?" I blurted out, staring at Joey like he had grown a second head.

Joey mirrored my expression, "Err Ag, dis is Namu."

For a moment I couldn't understand why Joey was giving me a bizarre look, but then I remembered that everyone thought Odion was Marik and Marik was just some beginner duelist named Nemo…I mean Namu.

"Sorry, I thought you said something else," I said, apologizing.

The cloud of confusion left Joey's face and he turned back to Marik, "Namu how did you manage to qualify for the finals so quickly?"

Marik chuckled nervously, "It's a funny story actually Joey, after we parted ways, I started winning every duel. It's all thanks to you,"

Blech this cheery naive facade of Marik's is making nauseated. It's disgusting.

"Hi," Marik suddenly said, smiling and extending out his hand, "I'm Namu."

I blinked at his action, I didn't want to shake his hand, but both Joey and Duke were watching us. If I don't shake his hand, they're gonna think something's up. "I'm Allie," I replied stiffly, forcing a smile. Marik's grip was iron tight as he squeezed the poor life out of my hand.

"Nice to meet you, I hope we can be good friends," he said.

Blech.

"Bakura!" Joey suddenly said, rushing away with Duke following right behind him. I wanted to follow, but my hand was still being crushed painfully by Marik. I glared at him.

"See Allie, didn't I say we were going to meet shortly?" Marik asked, letting go of my hand.

I clutched my hand and massaged it. I gave Marik one last glare and then side stepped him to join Joey.

"Bakura what are you doing out of the hospital? How did you even manage to get six locater cards?" I heard Joey ask as I drew closer.

Ryou shrunk back, "I'm really alright now Joey," he said quietly, "And I defeated Bones in a duel. He had five locater cards." the british boy explained.

I observed the albino with suspicion- was he really Ryou or Bakura pretending to be Ryou? Oh mon dieu, there are too many people with personality disorders that it's at a point where I just can't be bothered to keep up.

"Allie?" surprised brown eyes flashed in my direction.

I approached him shyly, unsure which persona was currently in control, "Hey Ryou," I said.

The albino smiled and stepped forward, "I'm so glad you're okay, you had me worried," he said, continuing to give me an eerie smile, and when he was close enough to, the true demon appeared, "You little twit," Bakura hissed, "How dare you walk off on me. I go out of my way for you and you dare to run away?"

My jaw hit the floor at his sudden personality change and I gaped at Bakura. Adjusting my head, I peered past him to look at Joey and Duke, both whom were completely oblivious to the sadistic, evil Bakura, standing a couple of feet away.

"I didn't run away!" I hissed back, furious at his accusation, "You ditched me you jerk,"

"I told you to wait while I attended to something, fool," Bakura growled, a vein popping on his forehead.

"…"

"Oh…well you didn't make that very clear," I finally said.

Bakura snorted and then pushed me out of his way so he could walk to Kaiba's blimp. I stuck my tongue out at him as I fell flat on my butt. I swear I'm going to get him back, not just for this, but for earlier too.

"What was dat, Ag?" Joey wondered allowed, giving me a hand, "Usually Bakura's a nice guy."

That's what you think, I thought darkly, "It's not his fault, I have a bad ankle…which affects my balance…at times…" I just pulled out the randiest reason ever. Having a bad ankle equals to having bad balance? Hmmm…I don't think so. But luckily Joey's such a good guy, he believed me.

"Serenity!" Duke exclaimed excitedly rushing away to greet a long haired brunette who was accompanied by Tristan.

That leaves only Tea and Yugi left.

I left the group to go sit over by the seats of the stadium. All I could do was sit and wait for Yugi to come back. It was really nerve wracking, wondering when he'd get back. I fiddled with the Millennium Heart, running my thumb over the Eye. Do you know how much easier things would be if these Millennium Items were also an instant messaging service? I could just go 'Hey Yugi, get back here' and presto one King of Games a la mode.

I tried, just for the heck of, to mentally contact Yugi and Yami, but no luck. Not even an echo. How the heck does Shadi talk to me? Mystical powers?

"This is all your fault,"

I looked up to see Kaiba standing with his arms folded and a mean glare in his ice blue eyes.

"I'm sorry?" I said coolly.

"We're wasting valuable time because of you," he stated flatly.

"Hey genius, if you haven't noticed, not all of the finalists are here yet, so it's not like you could've left anyways," I pointed out dryly.

"Hn."

I rolled my eyes, "And if we're really pointing fingers at who's to blame, trying looking in a mirror," I smirked.

The CEO glared daggers at me and I laughed.

"Whose fault is it that I was kidnapped in the first place hmmm?" I asked mockingly, still smirking at him, "Umm I believe it would be yours. You're the one that made me wait outside whilst you dueled those two rare hunters." Boo ya, let's give a round of applause to Allie Grey, who just outsmarted Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes in irritation. Yes, let's piss off Kaiba, you know a little sweet revenge for the toddler and the monkey comment. Bastard.

I just smirked at him because there wasn't a retort he could throw at me, no excuses, nothing.

"Marik," a small smile appeared on Kaiba's face and I'm pretty sure, somewhere, an innocent little puppy just died.

Odion came strutting in, his body cloaked in the trademark rare hunter cape. Odion ignored all the hateful stares he was receiving and walked up the stairs and into the blimp without a single word.

Kaiba turned back to me, opening his mouth to get in the last word but I beat him to it, "If you're really that worried about Yugi, why don't you just track him with your satellite system thing?" I suggested lazily.

"Who said I was worried?" Kaiba asked icily, "I just want to get my tournament started so I can win the remaining Egyptian God Cards and defeat Yugi in a duel," he stated.

My mistake thinking you were human, I retorted silently, watching as Kaiba turned on his heel and stalked away. If Yugi wasn't here in another five minutes I was going to force Kaiba to go find him. I don't know how, maybe use Mokuba, but Kaiba would do something instead of bitching and moaning about his stupid tournament.

I stared avidly, without blinking, at the main entrance, waiting for Yugi to magically pop up.

-X-

By now, everyone was starting to flip out that Yugi, Tea and Mai weren't back. It was nearly ten o'clock and according to Joey's time telling skills, they had started searching at eight. The agreement had been one hour and if they couldn't find me in an hour, they were to return back here.

"Nah man, somethin's not right," Joey said.

"Joey, it's illogical for you to leave," Duke and Tristan both argued with the stubborn corn blonde, "What if you leave and they come back? Then we'd have to wait for you and knowing you, you'd probably get lost."

"Hey!"

"But Duke, what if they're hurt or lost or both?" I piped up, "What if they think that if they don't show up we'll eventually look for them?"

Duke bit his lip, "I-I"

"Hey guys, I think I hear something!" Tristan interjected, "Everyone quiet."

Sounds of hurried footsteps echoed throughout the stadium and in a matter of seconds, three people came bursting into the light.

"Yug!"

"Mai!"

"Yugi!"

"Tea!"

Tea was the first to look up, after having doubled over, gasping for air. "Hey guys!" she beamed, "Sorry we took so long, this crazy guy challenged Mai to a duel- Allie!" her blue eyes snapped in my direction. A violet set of orbs also flashed in my direction and I suddenly felt self-conscious; a pink blush washing over my face.

"Hey," I said quietly, looking at Yugi. Truth be told, I felt guilty, and I knew I had no reason to, but I just did. Maybe it was because I knew that Yugi had the safety of the world hanging over his head and he didn't need to be running around looking for me. Yugi had to prepare for the finals, he had so many things to do and I was only slowing him down.

"Allie," the smaller boy grinned, "You're safe."

Aww look how adorable he is. Isn't that sweet of Yugi? I think it's so cute I could let out a fangirl squeal and crush him in a hug, but I won't.

"Ahem," Kaiba muttered, "Now that you geeks are all back together, this blimp is leaving in five minutes…and if you're not on it, well that's too bad," he smirked, spinning around and disappearing into his aircraft.

"Kaiba, that jerk," Joey said, frowning.

As the 'geek' squad moved forward, Yugi, now Yami, hung back, a serious look reflected out of his purple orbs.

"I think it's time we talked again," he said sagely, his eyes unwavering.

I nodded graciously, "Of course," I replied.

-X-

You know, I had felt calm when I had agreed to Yami's request, but now my heart is beating like crazy, I'm so nervous. So many scenarios are running through my mind, some of them are ridiculous, but others are quite plausible. The main question that I don't want answered is: Will Yami hate me?

To prolong having to talk with Yami, I asked if I could take a shower first. I still smelled of saltwater and seaweed, or at least that was the pathetic excuse I made. I actually just wanted to calm my nerves down, and for some strange reason, taking a shower does that.

_What are you going to tell the Pharaoh?_

I screamed, loudly- nearly slipping and falling and cracking my head open.

"Shadi you better be using telepathy!" I growled as I washed the shampoo from my face. I peered through the foggy glass, looking for signs of the tomb keeper. Thankfully he was smart enough not to hang around.

_'Well?'_ Shadi prompted, his voice becoming louder in my head.

I glared at nothing in particular. This is not exactly helping me to calm down. I scowled as a ringing noise buzzed loudly and I could only assume Shadi was the cause of that. "I don't know!" I snapped, "The truth maybe?"

_What is there to tell? _

"Don't worry you annoying tomb keeper," I mumbled, "I won't mention anything you or Ishizu said to me, that's between you guys and me. But everything else is free game, you got it?"

I received no answer. I shrugged, happy Shadi was gone.

_Do you have feelings for the Pharaoh?_

I jumped, dammit I thought he was gone. "What?" I exclaimed, flabbergasted at the question. What kind of a question is that? "How on earth did you come to that conclusion?" I mused.

_**"I liiikkkee you Yami, because you're so pretty…And you have awesome hair."**_

I snorted, "Funny Shadi, I didn't know you could imitate voices," I said, shaking my head, "Imitate Kaiba next."

_You think this is a joke? _

"Well what else could it be?" I retorted with amusement, "I would never say something like that, ever," At least not out loud anyways. I may, on many occasions, think it though.

_Allison, don't pretend you don't know._

"Mmm okay, but I swear I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you sure that you didn't say that?" I mused.

_Be serious._

"I am," I protested earnestly, "I _seriously_ have no idea what you're talking about."

A sharp pain shot through my head and images began to flash before me; ones I didn't recognize.

_"If you want Yugi, you're going to have to go through me,"..._

_"I don't think I've ever met anyone as stupid as you…Don't you know how to play this game?"..._

_"You're not alone, Allie,"..._

_"Attack her life points directly!"..._

_"Thank you, Allie…You are a true friend…"_

_"I liiikkkee you Yami, because you're so pretty…And you have awesome hair."…_

What. The. Hell.

_Still don't believe me? _

"What the hell was that?" I exclaimed, "When did I say that?" I asked, a horrible feeling tugged at the pit of my stomach as I realized that Shadi wasn't making this up. I actually said that. But when? And how come I don't remember it? I know I have the memory of a fish, but I'm sure I would remember embarrassing myself in front of Yami.

_Don't ask me, they are your memories, not mine._

Thank you for being oh so helpful I thought snidely.

_But it seems I may have misunderstood, based on your reaction, it is clearly not what you meant. I am sorry Allison for thinking you have feelings for the Pharaoh. You may continue to stay beside the Pharaoh._

I frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked coolly.

_As long as you are a candidate for the Pharaoh's Knight, you may not fall in love with the Pharaoh. _

"You can't control me," I spat, "If I feel like falling in love with Yami, then I will."

_There are consequences to your actions, remember that Allison._

"Is that a threat?" I growled angrily, but there was no reply. This time Shadi was gone for real. I quickly finished up washing my hair and stepped out, wrapping a towel tightly around my body. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I could see my face was as red as Duke's vest and it wasn't because of the heat. I cannot believe I just said 'If I feel like falling in love with Yami, then I will'. God I am such an idiot. I will never be able to look at Yami.

I don't like Yami. Not like that anyways. I'm just his fangirl. Gah screw Shadi! Why did he have to go and misunderstand me? Grr so annoying. Now he's put weird thoughts into my head. And it's not like I'd ever fall in love with Yami, but for Shadi to tell me what I could or couldn't feel was a big no no.

I threw my clothes back on and left the bathroom to find Yami waiting for me patiently. I towed my gaze to the carpeted floor, unable to look at Yami and sat opposite of the ancient spirit.

"So…" the spiky haired blonde started.

"Yeah…" I replied.

* * *

And that is where I shall leave it- an awkward position between Yami and Allie. Hmm so is Shadi a friend or foe for Allie? Was the ending okay? I'm always afraid of making Allie ooc because I've portrayed her as a funny, go with the flow type of girl who doesn't really get serious that often, or angry, but she actually can be serious if necessary. With the 'oh moon dieu' I added that in to let everyone know, she's part French. Anyways god, getting everyone back to the blimp was a nightmare cause it took them forever. Mmm I don't know when the next update will be, hopefully sometime in March. Like I said before in a different chapter or not, writing is going slow because I haven't really thought out what happens on the blimp. Anyways that's all for now…I believe.

**Thanks to: **

**Danyeda **lol I know that feeling of having to put school first before FF xD, **0athk33p3r and 0b1ivi0n**, **YankeeSamson **yeah Bakura and Marik are two bad guys who Allie is immune to lol comedy can only ensue with that trio. **Aqua Girl 007 **lucky you have an easy semester. All my teachers decided that semester 2 is the time to give out all the homework and tests, **NightSkyForLife** Bakura was not happy about that lol **YamiHeart **Poor Allie, she's been sentence to eternal punishment by Bakura, **tikarose **oh no she definitely is now at the top of his list, **looptheloopy **lol so true **FallingxForever **belch don't mention that lol, I did horribly XP **EgyptianSoul88 **I brought an interesting twist to her ramblings no? **alexanimelvr **TT^TT my poor SAT score lol **xXSilver MirrorsXx **I was wondering what happened to you ;D I'm happy you found the time to r&r and you're welcome :D **ribii **see I updated :) AND **GirXzimXfanatic **thanks.

2/27- Right if you just read this and refreshed the page, you'll noticed I edited her ramblings coming to light. If you're wondering, wait a minute that wasn't there before, you're right. A reviewer of mine kindly pointed out that the revelation was rushed and I agree with her. It was five in the morning when I finished this and well I was nearly at the end. So here is the new version of her revelation coming to light. I added the 'I like you' part in it, because I needed to connect Shadi's warning about falling in love and her original ramblings weren't enough to lead him to the conclusion that she liked him. I also decided that a serious Allie is no fun and so the circumstances must be absolutely terrible if Allie is to get serious. She gets mad, but that's different than her getting serious.

But I'm still working on the conversation between S and A because it seems fine to me now (I'm functioning on two hours of sleep) maybe after a couple of days, I MIGHT come back and edit it again, it depends.

Also I don't know why Shadi decided to talk to her while she was in the shower. He just pops up at the most random times.

**Review!**

**Lol enjoy your day.**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N: **I am here! I am alive! I am back! Yes I've been gone for a very loooonnnnggg time. Time really flies when you get stuck on a chapter. I checked my profile and I wrote on April 19th that the chapter would be out by that weekend. Yeah that was a BIG lie. Che, it took me forever to write this chapter because I left those two in a very awkward place and every time I tried to write the opening the writing itself was awkward and I was extremely unhappy with it. This opening is a time skip, skipping their talk, but don't fret, Allie goes back to describe what happened. **Note!** You'll see that Joey is asking what happens and then it goes into the flashback- **Allie is not telling Joey all this information**, she is thinking over it in her head. **Thank you for all those lovely reviews, I really appreciate them.**

**Special thanks to betas: StormyMonday and YamiHeart **

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

And How Do You Feel About Him?

"Hey Ag, wats wit da long face?"

I lazily flicked one eye open and found Joey, unsurprisingly with a large plate of food in one hand, walking towards me. I cast my sight across the observation deck over towards a certain spiky haired blonde, who was currently in deep conversation with Tea. I inwardly sighed, remembering moments ago at our failed 'talk'- if you can even call it that. I bet Yami thinks I'm a complete dumbass.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head and turning around to lean against the railing, "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"A penny for your thought?" Joey asked, giving me one of his highly contagious grins. The blonde joined me in leaning on the railway and concentrated looking outward into the night sky.

I shrugged to myself. Sure why not? Sam is usually the one I rant to, even though he's just a kid and almost always doesn't understand anything I tell him. But I guess I can use Joey as a temporary diary, for now at least.

I sighed loudly, "Where do I begin?" I asked sarcastically.

"Just start from where you wanna start," Joey suggested, "Pretend I'm yer dog- err… uhh nevamind…"

I blinked gratefully at the sandy blonde duelist and then returned my gaze to the window, "I don't know how to talk to him," I said simply, "And I don't know why. I can talk to anyone else, seriously, anyone else, I can hold a conversation with, but when it comes to Yami, I can't even talk with him for two seconds without choking. Urgh," I sighed heavily in annoyance and banged my forehead against the metal railing, "I just don't get it."

Joey rubbed his chin thoughtfully before replying, "Hmmm, well Ag, here's a question for ya: when you're around Yami, how do you feel?"

I spared a suspicious glance in the blonde's direction and furrowed my brows, "I don't know, uncomfortable?" I said slowly, trying to figure out where Joey was going with this, "Awkward? Stupid?" The list goes on and on.

The blonde nodded his head, "And when you're wit Yug, how do you feel?"

Again I sent Joey a suspicious look- what was his point? "Natural? Fine? Normal?" I really had no idea what Joey was looking for, but a big grin spread across his face.

"And me?" he asked, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, "Do you have a point?" I asked, a vein starting to pulse madly on my left temple. I shook my fist in an irritated manner as a small blush flooded my cheeks.

Joey held up his hands in defense, "I do, I do. Trust me Ag. Just answer the question." He chuckled, his brown eyes filled with mirth.

I sighed and shook my head, "Normal, fine, natural." I repeated quickly, scowling at him. Would he hurry up already? I feel stupid answering his questions. I glanced behind me to see Yami still talking with Tea. Somehow, I feel just a little annoyed. Everyone else was busy enjoying the food and making small talk. Kaiba was nowhere to be found. Guess making conversation and you know, acting like a normal human being, is just too beneath him.

"-the answer's simple, Ag," Joey's heavy brooklyn accent interrupted my thoughts and I looked at him with confusion.

"What?" I found myself asking him.

Joey looked proud of himself, "I know what your problem is," he said smugly.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, yeah sure he did. "Alright Sherlock, let's hear it," I said, humoring him.

"The reason," he began slowly and dramatically, "you can't talk to the Pharaoh and feel awkward around him and not Yug or me is because you two aren't friends," Joey answered simply, grinning stupidly at me.

I felt my jaw drop as I gawked at him dumbfounded, "What?" I asked rather loudly. I clapped my hands over my mouth and fought off the blush that crept up my face as eyes turned to stare in my direction. It wasn't that I was confused by what Joey was saying, I just couldn't believe that the answer was _that _simple.

Joey misunderstood my exclamation and proceeded to explain his conclusion, "No it makes total sense Ag," he stated, leaning in closer, "You feel awkward and uncomfortable because you don't know Yami and vice-a versa," he pointed out logically.

I looked at Joey with raised eyebrows, impressed a big word like vice versa was in his vocabulary- but I decided not to comment.

"You two are like the doughnuts in the Domino Pastry Cafe," Joey continued on.

I stared at him blankly- he's just totally lost me.

"The Pharaoh's a chocolate, glazed, extra filling, doughnut with rainbow sprinkles and you're just a plain sugar doughnut."

"Gee thanks," I replied sarcastically.

Joey waved at me to keep quiet while he talked, "And when put together in the display window with all de other doughnuts, you'd think you both have nothing in common because one doughnut is fancier than the other, but underneath all the glaze and sugary goodness, yer still both just doughnuts." Joey finished, a bit of drool hanging out of the corner of his mouth as he stared off into the distance of his doughnut heaven.

Surprisingly I actually understood Joey's very sad metaphor. Hmmm what does that say about myself on an intellectual level, when Joey starts making sense? I shudder just thinking about it.

"So just talk to him," Joey said casually, "In order ta become friends, you guys need to talk…even if it's about nothing, like we're doing now,"

I glared at Joey and then whacked him upside the head, "Weren't you listening to me?" I growled, "I just said I can't talk to him! Oh and what do you mean that this talking here is nothing?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips, "I'm telling you private stuff here, stuff that if you tell anyone else-"

"Whao chill Ag, I didn't mean it like dat." Joey replied, "Besides, you can't talk to Yug yet- and yes dats what yer gonna half to do, in order to befriend him. Before ya talk to him, why don't you tell me what else is on your mind," the blonde said with a raised brow and expectant look.

I stared at him taken aback, "How did you know?" I finally asked, when I found my voice again.

He grinned, his gaze traveling over to Serenity, "I'm a big brother," he said protectively, "It's like a sixth sense, " Joey paused and then gave me an expectant look, "So what else is on your mind, Ag?"

Hmm…what _else_ is on my mind? Good question. Stuff. Lots and lots of stuff.

"Ag?" Joey spoke up.

"Would you believe me if I told you I wasn't from here?" I asked suddenly.

Joey cocked his head to the side and blinked, "There's nothing wrong with where your from," he replied thoughtfully.

I chuckled and shook my head. I knew it was a long shot for Joey to understand my cryptic message. I'd explain that another time. "It's okay, never mind," I grinned, "Anyways Joey, about Yami. Everytime I'm around him I just cause him problems-"

Joey frowned, "Hold up Ag, that's what's bothering ya?" he exclaimed.

I glared up at him.

"Yug's the nicest guy I know. You two only just met. There's no way you could be causing problems, let alone Yug would ever think you were-"

"That's where you're wrong," I interjected, "Like today, we ran into two rare hunters and he really needed me to duel with him, and I choked," I said miserably, "And just now, I did it again. I choked. I was supposed to give him answers to help him, but I couldn't say anything. Yugi's been so helpful and kind to me- and he just met me - but all I do is cause him trouble."

"Ag," I felt a comforting hand pat me gently on the head, "I think you're confusing causing trouble with trying to be helpful," Joey said slowly.

I looked at Joey curiously, wiping a few stray tears off my face with the sleeve of my hoodie. Gosh I'm too emotional.

"I know how you feel Ag," Joey smiling sadly, "I've felt like dat many times too. Yugi's gotten me outta trouble more times dan I can count. And I've felt like crap because of it. I tried my best to help him but in the end, he saves my butt. But ya know Ag, Yug ain't the type of guy who considers helping others out as being a bother. That guy is always willin to lend a hand when he can." Joey added, swiping his thumb across the tip of his nose and sending me a grin.

So I guess even a guy like Joey has his doubts at times.

"But what if you try your best and still fail?" I asked quietly, almost more to myself than Joey- but he still heard me anyways.

"Well that's no reason to quit," Joey said optimistically, "Isn't there a saying…hang on, I learned this in English class…or was it history? Uhh, Rome wasn't built in a day. I think Tea called it a proadjective or something." Joey scratched his head comically and I could't help but laugh.

"You mean, proverb?" I chuckled, raising a brow.

Joey snapped his fingers together, "Yeah that's the word. Anyways ya can't give up Ag. There are times when things are tough, we've all been through them- even Yug. And sometimes ya don't win, or ya don't live up to your expectations, but that doesn't mean you should give up. Ya gotta just keep trying and eventually you will succeed-"

"**Attention Battle City Finalists, the first duel between Ryou Bakura and Yugi Moto will commence in twenty minutes."**

Everyone turned to stare at the big flat screen as the announcement was made.

"Yug told me about your duel with that rare hunter guy. He was really worried about you," Joey continued on.

I grimaced, "You don't have to remind me."

Joey shook his head, "No that's not my point Ag. Yug considers you his friend, it's only natural he'd worry about you. You're being too hard on yourself and you're over thinking the situation."

I gave Joey a wry look and rolled my eyes. Me over thinking things? Well that's a first.

Brown eyes filled with determination and confidence gazed at me, "Ag if you just try yer best, no matter what happens, dere's no way you could let anyone down," Joey said in a strong voice, "Everyone goes at their own pace and sometimes we fall, but then we get back up and keep going. Losing a duel doesn't mean you've failed. You need more self confidence. No more doubting yerself, it does nothin but cause you problems, kay?

Joey's so sweet. Man I would kill to have a best friend like him, back home. I grinned and nodded in agreement.

"So uh Ag, what happened between you and Yug?" Joey grinned with raised eyebrows.

Cue happy bubble popping. I dropped my face into my hands and groaned, "It was a complete disaster."

**30 minutes ago…**

If Yami hasn't thought it by now, he'll definitely be thinking it after this, about what a complete and utterly useless person I am. I was all set on telling him everything, but then a certain annoying ancient spirit who shall not be named went and brutally murdered that plan with his stupid, dumb revelation. I mean really, he couldn't have maybe mentioned it to me before, maybe just a quick 'Oh by the way Allie, you confessed to the Pharaoh'? What a jerk!

And where's Yami you ask? He went to go get drinks- or so he says. He probably just wanted to escape the retarded silence. I doubt he's actually planning on coming back and I don't blame him.

I mean seriously what am I supposed to tell him? I've been sworn to secrecy by a jerk because he thinks Yami should be kept in the dark. What is the point of knowing what's going to happen and only telling him once said event has passed? It makes no sense.

Surprisingly Yami returned (it's a miracle) although it wasn't Yami, but Yugi (okay so technically he hadn't come back). Yugi placed a glass of bubbly liquid in front of me, but I just stared at him, confused and surprised.

"Yami thought it would be easier to talk if he wasn't here." was all Yugi offered me for an explanation. The poor boy looked very uncomfortable and was avoiding my gaze; his cheeks were slightly flushed.

Yami was probably right, but my pride and what was left of my integrity said otherwise.

"Oh," I said awkwardly, looking away, "Umm that's really…thoughtful of him," damn I can't think properly, "…but uhh doesn't it make more sense since he's the one who asked, he should be here? No offense," I added quickly, turning to look at Yugi.

The corner of Yugi's lips tugged upward into a shy smile, "Yeah, I told him the same thing," the spiky haired blonde chuckled, "But he insisted that it was better this way."

No sooner had he finished his sentence, I found Yami sitting in front of me. The ancient spirit seemed completely surprised at his hikari's actions and muttered an annoyed "Yugi" under his breath. I'm not sure what Yugi said, but it caused Yami to scowl slightly. I tried not to laugh. It was weird seeing him make such a face; I've been used to the calm, graceful Yami- I forget that he can act childish too.

I began to fiddle with the Millennium Heart as I tried to think of how to start.

"Allie," Yami suddenly said, his eyes focused on the golden pendant, "Is that a Millennium Item?" he wondered quietly.

Che, duh Allie, you should've started with this ages ago, I thought to myself as a lightbulb flickered on inside my head, although it flickered and then blew as I realized I couldn't talk to Yami about the Heart because it was part of the (accidental) secrecy agreement. Curse Shadi. No wait, hang on. On second thought forget Shadi. I don't care. He owes me anyways.

"Yeah, it was made by-"

"Hey Pharaoh!" a loud knock on came from the door followed by the entrance of one very optimistic Tea Gardner.

We both jumped and I glared daggers at the girl. I mean really, Tea had to pick this moment to talk to Yami? I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Tea..." Yami said, his voice trailing off.

Tea walked straight up to the King of Games (completely ignoring my presence, which I found very strange) and placed one hand on his arm, "Yami you just have to come check out the view," she said, pulling him out of his chair, "It's so beautiful. Domino City looks amazing!"

"Tea, actually-"

"It'll only take a moment," she chirped, "And it's a once in a life time chance. C'mon Pharaoh, I promise you won't regret it."

It'll only take a moment my butt, I thought sarcastically- again sending the brunette a dirty look. I originally thought Tea was a nice person, I mean she really seemed like a nice person when I met her, but now I think I change my mind. It's either she's really really oblivious, or she's doing it on purpose; personally I think it's the latter.

Violet orbs gazed in my direction.

I shrugged, "I'll still be here," I said finally, "You shouldn't pass up a once in a life time chance," I added sarcastically, using air quotes. I never heard Yami's answer because Tea had literally dragged him out of the room, leaving me totally confused and extremely irritated. We were finally getting somewhere, after enduring long and awkward silence and then Tea has to take him. Urg so not fair!

_I won't mention anything you or Ishizu said to me, that's between you guys and me._

I let out surprised cry as I heard my own voice echo within my mind. Really, you'd think I'd be used to Shadi's random visits, but he gets me every time. I glared at nothing as I stated, "He's going to find out anyways," I crossed my arms stubbornly.

_In time._

"That's what your answer is for everything," I muttered under my breath, slowly rising from my chair and exiting the room.

**Present…**

"But that's not what's bothering ya is it Ag?"

I blinked trying to focus on who was in front of me. Joey? I wondered in bewilderment. I had completely forgotten he had been standing right next to me. I frowned once I was able to comprehend his words. Damn, Joey's got one hell of a sixth sense.

I sighed, "I wasn't able to tell Yami what I wanted to,"- because of one very annoying interruption, I thought darkly, but I'd keep that to myself, "Yami's been so kind to me, I just wanted to return the favor, but I couldn't," I let out another sigh, casting a gloomy glance over to the boy in question- Tea was still talking to him.

Again Joey patted my head, "That's a shame Ag," he said, "But it's nothing to get upset over."

Pat pat.

"Sometimes it's hard to find a way to help a guy like Yug," Joey stated, "He's got to save the world from an insane lunatic-"

**"Battle City Finalists, the next duel between Ryou Bakura and Yugi Moto will begin in five minutes."**

"- all by himself. I've wondered many times if it was even possible to help him, after all Yami is some ancient powerful pharaoh from the past. But even a king needs help at times. You may not even see it, but just by being his friend and being there to support him when he duels, you're already helping him cause you're reminding him that he's not alone and that you're with him every step of the way," by the end of his long speech, Joey was grinning.

I made a move to talk, but the goofy blonde cut me off. Apparently he wasn't done.

"But," Joey said dramatically, "Ag I can tell your the type of person who cares deeply about the little things and it's probably gonna kill you that you weren't able to tell the Pharaoh what you wanted to, so you should tell him," he ended simply.

Wow Joey is perceptive- what?

"What?" I gaped at him with round eyes.

"Go talk to him," Joey encouraged, jerking his head in Yami's direction. I followed his head nod and noticed that Tea and Yami were heading towards the doors. I bit my lip as I quickly began debating whether I should or shouldn't go talk to him. I looked at Joey with pleading eyes, hoping he'd tell me what to do.

"Hey man," Tristan said, placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder as he walked up, "Let's go."

Joey ignored his words and held his gaze strongly, "There's still a couple of minutes left. If it's really that big a deal ta ya Ag, go tell him. Have a bit of self confidence and believe in yourself."

What Joey didn't understand was that what I had to tell Yami was going to take more than just a couple of minutes. I rocked back and forth on my feet, all the while keeping track of the fact that as I stood with Joey thinking, Yami was getting closer and closer to the door. I let out a panicky noise, made eye contact with Joey and then bolted towards the King of Games, but not before mumbling a deep gratitude of thanks.

I reached Yami in a couple of sprints and placed a hand on his shoulder. I gave Tea a very fake smile as I said, "Hey Tea, can I borrow Yami for a second?" Translation: bitch get lost.

The brunette made no signs of protest and left.

Yami looked at me calmly, but his eyes conveyed a different attitude.

I was nervous and part of me, okay most of me, wanted to back out, but I ignored my flight instinct and opened my mouth to talk "Yami about Ma-"

"**Duelists please make you're way to the dueling platform located on the upper deck."**

You've got to be kidding me. I was _this_ close to telling Yami something important. But the tri hair colored duelist sent me an apologetic look, "Sorry Allie, it'll have to wait until after my duel with Bakura," he said, turning on his heel and walking away.

I slapped my palm against my forehead once Yami was gone. I couldn't tell if he was mad, but it felt like he was.

Run after him a little voice said in my head. I frowned, great now I'm hearing voices inside my head- I knew it wasn't Shadi because he'd never tell me anything helpful. Run after him, it repeated, this time a little more loudly. Could I reach him in time? I asked myself, but there was no reply. Before I knew it, or could take a second to argue with myself, my legs were moving and I was running. Running down the hall way. I could see him.

He was waiting for the elevator. The elevator door was sliding open. Crap he was getting inside the elevator. Ooh look he turned around. Oh he sees me.

"Yami!" I blurted out, coming to a flying halt just outside the elevator. I had to speak quick because the door was closing and I doubt Kaiba was smart enough to install a door open button in his elevator. "I know you have questions and I'm sorry I couldn't answer them, really really truly sorry. But I swear to you I will, okay? Anything you want to know, I'll tell you…if I can" Hurry up Allie, the door is closing. It was halfway already, "You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future."

And the door closed.

Wow Allie, a quote? Of all the things you could have warned him about and you tell him a quote? Congratulations, you've officially graduated to a supreme dumbass. Gosh I hate myself right now, even more than before when I found out Yami heard my ramblings. I turned around and dragged my feet slowly down the long narrow hallway.

"Thanks Allie,"

I whipped around to see the elevator door had reopened and Yami was smiling at me while giving me a thumbs up. I returned the gesture slowly with uncertainty, but before I could say anything more, the door closed again and this time I was sure Yami had gone.

* * *

Yes I finally was able to produce something! I didn't think I'd get more than 2k for this chapter 00 The reason I didn't go into depth with their awkward conversation mainly because it was awkward and because I couldn't think of how to write it which was a sign that it shouldn't happen :) But they will talk, I promise you that. I think it's either in the next chapter or the chapter after that. I really really want to get them off the blimp. There's nothing to do and for like twenty episodes everyone's just dueling. You can't make anything out of that, so I'm going to quickly try and get them off the blimp. Umm hopefully I'll be able to post again before school's out, but I don't know. When I was stuck I read everyones' reviews and they really kept me motivated. Sorry for the long wait everybody and I hope I disappointed no one. Your reviews mean so much to me, I hope I haven't lost any of you faithful reviewers or readers.

Oh I should quickly add before you go and hate on Tea for being mean, she was under influence courtesy of Shadi, in order to stop Allie from saying anything to Yami. But don't worry, you'll have reason to dislike her later on.

**THANKS TO ALL YOU SPECIAL PEOPLE:**

**YankeeSamson** Well a serious Allie is not fun, therefore serious Allie will not show until a serious situation arises lol. About the revelation, there was never meant to be a feeling of regret because it's supposed to be something embarrassing and funny. It's just supposed to humiliate the crap out of Allie. Lol what happened to you?

**Little-Angel-7698** My lips are sealed on that situation.

**YamiHeart** Aww you don't want to have a chance to protect Yami and be at his side 24/7? lol. Nah it would probably be torture to be with him all the time and not be able to make a move on him ;D But luckily for Allie, listening isn't what she's known best for.

**Aqua girl 007 **Urg you have no idea how much I hate it. I have to do this 5 hour long online survey for my guidance counselor for college. It was due at the end of Feb and I'm still working on it. It takes up ALL my time.

**ribii**

**Azelf1717**

**alexanimelvr**

**FallingxForever** lol it's okay, I'm taking sat classes so hopefully it'll help me :D Hmm weird indeed.

**Yaoi-Beloved** Yay finally someone looked the card up ^^ Well he does have lots of strands of spiky blonde hair, so you can't not say he isn't blonde lol. If I told you what he meant, it would be a spoiler alert xp.

**EgyptianSoul88 **Yeah, don't know why Shadi chose that specific time, but if I had to guess, it would be because she was alone. Oh Bakura's already plotting his revenge and it isn't looking good for Allie.

**looptheloopy **Well compared to the three guys with spilt personalities and all the chaos and insanity that ensues, Duke probably finds Allie's insanity to be actually normal xD

**Aurineko **Yay I was wondering where you went. Hmm I hadn't thought of Yami overhearing, but it did spark an idea.

**Toaster-Omlette **Lol. Sadly they are on a blimp, there's no place to run or hide. She'll have to wait until they get on the ground, so she can run very far far away.

**HowlingWolf26 **Hope you weren't somewhere public when you yelled lol. I once laughed really loudly in class when it was dead silent cause I was reading a story…it was very embarrassing lol.

**GirXzimXfanatic**

**tikarose **Nope I am still here, just hiding in a crack. Hmmm AllieXBakura lol they'd rip each other apart.

**xXSilver MirrorsXx **Yay \(^.^)/ good to hear from you.

**TheBeginningsEnd**

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName- **ah so you're a secret reader eh? You should review more often ;)

**Review!**

**No Flames**

**ZTL**


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**A/N**- haha of course I managed to finding something else to do than study for my math final which is in like six hours. Bad zera. Anyways here is chapter 17. Originally I had a lot more planned out for this chapter (which I had written down in a lot of detail) but then I decided that there was too much action and drama and have now broken it up into two parts, relatively speaking. Allie is a little more serious than usual in my opinion as I've gone back and reread some of my older chapters and compared her. Summer vacation starts on Tuesday and so I should have chapter 18 out fairly soon. I hope it to be by this weekend, but I do have to study for history and chinese. The talk will be chapter 19, or so says my plan. Anyways enjoy and as always thanks for the reviews. I personally think this chapter should have been called Blame Kaiba, but I already used that.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

Didn't See This Coming, Did You?

"Well wasn't that just charming," a voice drawled sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, immediately recognizing the british accent. Damn and I thought I was all alone. I reluctantly turned around to find Bakura leaning causally on the wall with his arms folded and legs slightly crossed- and he was smiling. Ugh, Bakura smiling is never a good sign.

"Yes very," a new voice replied, chuckling. Ice blonde hair came into view as Marik stepped out from behind the doorway, his hands slouched in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

I resisted the urge to slap my palm upside my forehead and slowly trailed my feet over towards the two (it was obvious they wanted to talk to me -aren't I popular tonight?- and there was no way I could get around them, so why not save myself a twisted arm and just walk over?)

"What?" Marik demanded when he caught me eyeing him strangely.

I quickly grinned and shook my head, "Nothing," I replied in a sing song voice and then silently added: _you need to know about anyways_. I was checking Marik to make sure his Millennium Item was safely tucked away and out of reach- didn't want him trying anything funny.

Marik snorted in disgust and rolled his eyes.

"So Dee and Dum what's up?" I asked casually, hooking my thumbs into my back pockets and rocking back and forth on my heels. Damn I hate these shoes. As soon as I get a chance to buy _real_ shoes, I'm burning these. I can barely walk. I nearly fell flat on my face when I ran after Yami.

Bakura let out a low distinctive growl and glared at me while Marik passed off my words as nonsense. Marik opened his mouth to talk and just to annoy him I cut him off.

"_Besides _you deserving to be the Pharaoh and ruling the world," I added cheekily, "You've _already _established that…way more times than necessary." I exchanged a look with Bakura knowing he too had been subjected to Marik's endless (coughpointlesscough) ranting. The albino tried to keep a straight face and he even went as far as to avoid eye contact with me but I could see he wanted to laugh.

"Hn. Funny." Marik deadpanned, not amused.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Bakura- knowing it would annoy Marik even more, "So Dee, don't you have a duel to be getting to?" I questioned sending him an angelic grin.

Bakura gave me a cold glare, "You make my ears bleed," he said childishly.

I feigned a very exaggerated gasp and then stuck my tongue out at him, "If your ears bleed when I talk, what happens to you when Dum Dum talks?" I retorted playfully, grinning at Marik in the process. It's just too easy to mess with him.

Marik huffed indignantly and his upper lip curled in annoyance.

"Aww Dum Dum don't get mad," I joked, sensing a royal temper tantrum coming on, "We actually enjoy listening to you talk…sort of…maybe…err not really…umm you're really good at…making a point? Right Dee?" I asked, sharply nudging Bakura in the ribs.

"Shut up," Bakura replied dryly, refusing to take part in annoying Marik. He's such a killjoy.

Sensing the atmosphere tense up and the fun die, I looked for a possible escape route. I doubted that neither Bakura nor Marik were here for a friendly chat which made me wonder why were they both here. I felt extremely cornered, figuratively speaking of course. I always had the option of running (if my damn heels didn't trip me first). I could definitely out maneuver Marik, I mean I don't even have to _try,_ to get away from him. It's Bakura I had to worry about.

I took a hesitant step back, "Well this has been…weird…I'm going to go and join Yugi now. Bye no-ahhh what did I say about twisting my arm!" I attempted to run, key word being attempted, but didn't get very far thanks to one asshole spirit of the ring. Damn I wanted to avoid the twisting of my arm/ Bakura grabbed my wrist and painfully yanked me back, twisting my arm in the process. That's twice now. Bakura roughly shoved me forward so that I was trapped between him and Marik- not a comforting feeling. I glared at Bakura; I greatly disliked him when he was like this.

"On the contrary Allie," Bakura rasped, "You're not going anywhere." He chuckled darkly.

Like in the movies, it's never good when they tell you 'you're not going anywhere' and then laugh. I gulped, slowly backing up until I promptly walked into Marik. Oh no…this isn't going to end well. I felt an iron tight grip wrap around both my arms, holding me in place. I struggled a bit, trying to see if I could wiggle free. No such luck. Okay, this really isn't good for me now.

Bakura advanced forward with a hungry look in his brown orbs, "I'll be taking your Millennium Item now, Allie.", he informed.

Didn't Bakura already fail at trying to take the Millennium Heart? What made him think that he was going to succeed this time? The white haired britt ripped the pendant with his hand from its chain and gave me a triumphant smirk. No sooner had his fingers grasped the magical object did sparks of electricity flare. And it wasn't like last time where the sparks only fizzled slightly; these were real, lightning like, sparks of electricity that danced about. A bright light illuminated from the Heart and engulfed us while the sparks intensified.

Marik let go in surprise and retreated back, "Fool!" he hissed. Obviously he wasn't aware that Bakura's 'genius' plan was going to backfire. I, on the other hand, had some idea of what was going to happen (from previous experience) and was somewhat prepared. What I didn't expect was for the reaction to backfire so badly. I shielded my eyes with my arm and scurried off to the side.

"Bakura!" I yelled, "Let it go!"

Bakura ignored my words, that or he couldn't hear me. He seemed transfixed with the Heart to the point of where he looked hollow on the inside, like nobody was home. I didn't know what was going on, but it was obvious that something was happening to Bakura.

I turned to the only other Item user left, "Do something," I stated frantically, "Make it stop!" As much as I hated Bakura when he went all evil spirit of the ring on me, I still liked him very much.

The ice blonde stared dumbfounded at the sight in front of him and then turned to me, "What do you want me to do?" he snapped.

"I don't know! Anything. Use the Rod to stop it?" I suggested, keeping a watchful eye on Bakura.

Marik frowned and then shouted, "Do you know how dangerous it is for two Items to be used against each other?" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I glared at him, raising myself up to my full height, "DOES IT LOOK LIKE I KNOW?" I screeched back angrily, "You wanted to be Pharaoh right? Well now's your chance. BE A DAMN PHARAOH AND STEP UP!"

"I don't know what to do!" Marik spat, but it looked like he was becoming more alarmed at the sight.

Blue sparks evolved into red sparks and if it was even possible, Bakura was turning even more white.

Marik inched closer and quickly pulled me over to him before moving backwards, away from the danger zone. I did not appreciate being manhandled and scowled at him, shrugging away.

"Allison, the Item belongs to you. Only you can make it stop," Marik said.

Well that's a comforting thought. I bit my lip as I stared at Bakura. "What am I supposed to do?" I finally asked, "Speak arabic? Throw my cards at it? Hit Bakura? I don't know how to make it stop." And that was the truth.

"Try." Marik snarled. Nice to see he cared, but he didn't have to yell at me. It wasn't my idea for Bakura to do something so stupid.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Stop!" I said in a commanding voice, hoping it would work. Nothing happened. I gave a hesitant look back at Marik and then turned to face Bakura again. "Cease. Desist. Heel. Halt. End. Finish. Ting. Yamette. Arreter." Okay I am officially out of ways to say stop, "Please?" I added as an after thought.

Suddenly the fancy light work died down altogether. Bakura let out a groan, his arm falling limp at his side and slowly his hand released the locket. It fell to the floor, spinning and then landed on its side. Little waves of electricity pulsed about but that was about it. Until the lights went out. I swear I heard the generator or whatever the hell was powering the blimp, die.

"Well that's just great," I muttered sarcastically to myself, "Kaiba just had to be cool and place us twenty thousand feet in the air."

I calmly walked over to Bakura, stooping down before him and picking up the Millennium Heart. It was really warm as I held it in my hand and seemed to slightly glow. I slipped it into my pocket since Bakura had inconveniently broken its chain. Bakura still was frozen, his eyes glazed over. Gosh I hope I didn't accidentally shatter his mind or something- he'd literally rip me to shreds. I didn't see any physical damage done to him- which is a good thing too. I'd like to live to a ripe old age thank you very much.

"Oi Bakura!" I called out lazily, giving him a good poke, "Rise and shine darling."

My friendly words brought him back alright. A displeased scowl appeared on his handsome features and a glare was directed my way. Gee what a nice way to show his gratitude.

"Don't I get a thank you or something for oh I don't know, saving you from becoming fried bait?" I asked casually, giving him a pointed look. I mean seriously, I could have left him like that.

Bakura's scowl slowly transformed into a victorious smirk, "I told you my plan would work, didn't I, _Malik_? I kept my end of the bargain, I trust you to keep yours." he rasped, flashing me a dark grin.

I paled as he spoke, chills running up and down my spine. I didn't want to turn around. I hoped that I had heard wrong. But the way Bakura was looking at me and the accent he had added as he said the blonde's name, I could only assume he was speaking to Marik's yami. A dark chuckle from behind answered my arising suspicion and I let out a squeak. I momentarily forgot about the arrival of the third and final Yami as Bakura's stupidity dawned on me.

He had _planned_ this? Are you kidding me! Of all the stupid things-

"Bakura!" I raged, red in the face, "You- you -you- oh words cannot even begin to describe how mad I am right now!" with each step I took, I could hear my voice rising, "Vous êtes une pomme de terre avec le visage d'un cochon d'inde!" I finished dramatically, pointing my finger at him. Yes when I'm super angry I tend to revert back to french, excuse me. "It's one thing to steal and have it go wrong, but to purposely do something reckless, not to mention INSANE, is another thing."

The britt laughed, "Allie you wound me, to think that I would be foolish enough to do anything, as you say, recklessly." he mocked.

"Careful," I warned, my anger level descending, "Or I might actually wound you…jerk,"

"I'd like to see you try," Bakura jeered.

"Don't tempt me," I retorted.

"Hn. As much as I _enjoy _chatting with you, Allie," he drawled sarcastically, "I have a duel to win and a god card to obtain. I believe you have some acquainting to do. Cheers." he said gleefully in his raspy voice.

I hope that elevator doesn't work, then Bakura will get disqualified.

As if just to spite me, the power came back on just as he reached the elevator.

You'd think I'd be able to stay mad at him for more than a minute, but the way he talks…damn I just can't help myself. It's the same feeling I get when Yami talks when he's angry. I think I have a voice complex or something…okay I don't know where that just came from or why I said it.

"Hello my dear, I've heard so much about you."

Okay his voice not so much.

I had forgotten all about Malik and was not eager to be alone with him. I _know_ he's worse than Bakura. I sent the thief king one last hateful glare as he walked away, leaving me with the king of evil.

I turned around to face the deranged, psychotic one, terrified. This was one person I couldn't crack a joke with. His level of psychopath was way above that of Marik and Bakura. But I gave him a curious look, "How are you here?" I dared to ask, "I thought Odion kept you at bay."

The rugged blonde laugh manically, "Bakura was right about you. You are proving most interesting, my dear. It seems although you posses a Millennium Item, you are not very knowledgeable about the powers it contains."

"And you are?" I replied.

"More than you," Malik responded smugly.

"Hmpf."

"Your Millennium Item seems to be able to draw out spirits which is very peculiar. Once I obtain your Item, I will be able to better understand its mysterious powers." the yami stated, his dull amethyst orbs resting in my direction.

I narrowed my eyes dangerously and said coolly, "I'd of thought that, if anything, you'd have learned from Bakura that to take it by force is impossible." It took everything I had to keep my voice steady.

Again, Malik laughed, "I'm not a halfwit as to try and take it by force. Allie, my dear, you are willingly going to hand it over."

I think that would be my cue to run away now. Run very far away. I turned on my heel and bolted towards the elevator, madly pushing the up button. Malik walked in a calmly manner in my direction, humming some sort of tune. It's never a good sign when the bad guy is walking. "Oh my god really?" I exclaimed, kicking the elevator door. It was too slow! Damn you Kaiba, too good for stairs.

Malik was drawing closer, I could feel it. I blindly spun around and ran, ducking low so as not to be caught by the arm. I heard Malik laugh and sped up my pace.

"Allie we are currently on a blimp, there's no where to run _or_ hide."

Kaiba is officially on my list and is now a deadman walking. Please tell me he at least installed locks on the doors. I stopped at one door and quickly peered inside. No such luck. Of course there wouldn't be a lock on the door. He's too stupid to install a clock on the duel disks, why should I have expected him to be smart enough to install a lock. As Malik stated there was no where I could really hide, so I opted for the next best thing: find another human being.

Find Ishizu. Find the control room. Find Ishizu. Find the control room. Find Ishizu. Find the control room. Find somebody.

Why are there so many doors and different ways to go? This a blimp. How many rooms and pathways that lead to nowhere does Kaiba need? I continued on my way, running I might add, down random hallways, looking for some type of shelter. I could hear Malik behind me and I don't understand how he was keeping up. I was running and he was walking. Where's the fairness in that?

"Oh shit." the words escaped my lips as I rounded left and found myself facing a dead end.

I whirled around only for my mid region to meet a sharp fist.

"Ow," I wheezed, falling forward and greeting darkness.

* * *

**A/N- **I had hoped to post this yesterday on my bday, but inspiration struck when I had more important things to do. Haha words of wisdom to those who are in highschool and or about to enter it: do not procrastinate for studying for finals or midterms, unless you are super smart like Kaiba. Anyways I don't have much to say, probably because I'm distracted by the thought that I so need to be studying right now.

Vous êtes une pomme de terre avec le visage d'un cochon d'inde- While I was searching for french curses I came across this and apparently this means: You are a potato with the face of a guinea pig. If you speak french and this doesn't make any sense TELL ME :D

6/11- Sorry, I don't know why this chapter disappeared. Probably FF doing something funny again, dunno or trying to tell me this chapter isn't going well. Haha The reviews have REALLY slowed down this time around! Lol WHAT happened? Am I having an off day or something? ¬¬

Originally this chapter and chapter 18 (which is in the process of being written) were supposed to be just one chapter and when I learned that chapter 17 had disappeared I thought about not reposting it until I had written out chapter 18 because I was planning to create one big chapter with lots of action and drama for readers because...dun dun dun...I was going to leave you guys there for a while, while I went back and fixed a few things, refurbished a few chapters here and there and then enjoyed my summer (as you guys should to) Don't know why I'm telling you my plan...probably to give ya'll a heads up. I'll say more next chapter.**  
**

**XOXO luv ya: **

**FallingxForever, Angel7698 **Thanks, I was worried that it wasn't up to its usual standards. I was gone for so long that I couldn't tell if my writing was the same or different.

**Aqua girl 007 **I am too :) Ahh I wish I could produce chapters instantaneously- I did it for a while but now they're coming an the pace of a snail. Omg that survey was the dumbest survey ever. I had to research colleges based on my "color" and the list that were under said color (coughgreencough) were places I wasn't interested in. And to top it all off I had to talk with my counselor for 80 minutes about these colleges- it was SO boring.

**Toaster-Omlette **

**YankeeSamson **She's gonna snap sometime and yell that, just wait and see.

**Darquesse **Hey I remember you, glad to hear from you again :) Haha you'll have to wait until next chapter.

**Dontgotaclue88**

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName **Nice to have you. I'm sure you'll think of a name eventually ;) Hmm aren't you a smart cookie, but I won't say which part of your guessing was right. Lalala shhh. Anyways there probably won't be a sequel, maybe some omakes, but I plan to give Allie and whoever she ends up with, closure.

**YamiHeart **Thumbs up is so cool when Yami does it. Anyways thank you again so much for your input and I'm glad you think it turned out great.

**TheBeginingsEnd**

**lyra7x13**

**xLadyStarx**

**Aurineko **School. Urg. It gets in the way of everything. I blame finals lol. Mmm luckily for Allie, she is saved from having to explain why she was talking to herself in the bathroom. Yami only heard her shriek, but being respectful, he did not barge into the bathroom lol.

**EgyptianSoul88 **I keep forgetting to say this but sorry for never putting a dot in your name, the 88 just keeps disappearing. It's been driving me crazy and I'm a little ocd like that. Phew had to get that off my chest ;) Moving on. That doughnut speech took me literally forever to come up with. I had to think hard about how to relate a donate to her situation. And damn those interruptions.

**GirXzimXfanatic **

**Hotaru-theFirefly **Hey which bit did you find worthy of post on fb? Lol I'm just interested to know. Hmm is Allie going to end up with Yami? I dunno. It's a secret la la la la la. Anyways thanks for reviewing every chapter, that must've taken you a while.

**REVIEW!**

**No Flames**

**Seriously thanks**

**ZTL**


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Well I won't hold you up, enjoy:**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

Out on the edge of glory.

Sometimes I hate myself that _and_ I'm going to kill Bakura.

Waking up only to find myself literally chained to a chair by ancient Egyptian magic is not exactly something I'm overly thrilled about; no matter how much of a hottie my captor happened to be. With my vision distorted, pain in my mid region and me just being plain confused, it took me awhile to realize something wasn't right- to be more specific: being glued to an effing chair. It took me even longer to notice I wasn't alone and it really wasn't until he spoke, did I actually remember how I got myself into this horrible situation.

"Finally awake my dear?"

I remained silent and squeezed my eyes shut tight; after all it was my big mouth that got me into trouble in the first place…I think. Unfortunately that plan only lasted about a good five seconds as I made the mistake to crack one eye open. I found Malik's face nearly pressed against mine as he crouched down on my level. The deranged extremely psychotic look, that seems to be his default face, gave me a heart attack.

"!"

Out of pure reflex my body reacted on its own. On one particular flail of my leg, I caught Malik on his shoulder, "Sorry," I blurted out without thinking. I frowned to myself, "No wait, no I'm not," I said quickly.

Malik chuckled and brushed himself off, "Bakura was right, you don't seem too intelligent," he commented.

"_You _don't seem too intelligent!" I shot back childishly; completely exasperated by the amount of comments to my IQ. Not my finest moment, I'll admit. In fact my entire day doesn't seem to going to well for me- as you can see.

"You hit me!" I accused several moments later after seconds of silence.

Malik rolled his eyes, "So?" he replied casually, giving me a fox grin.

Allie abuse!

I didn't have a comeback. It's not like Malik had any sort of honor code so it'd be pointless to bring it up. I shrugged unable to think of a retort and went back to trying to free myself. My arms were starting to lose circulation.

A snort from the king of evil alerted me to the fact that he was enjoying every second of this. His face expression seemed to say 'yeah right as if that would work'.

I continued to fidget with my bonds, determined to prove the egotist wrong. Sadly I didn't magically bust out of my chains- wait magic? Hello duh! Fight fire with fire. Of course why hadn't I thought to just use my Millennium Item (ha take that Malik!). Finally it's coming in handy. I'm so smart. And just as I was planning to free myself and be all 'Boo ya! In your face!' Malik began to laugh, obnoxiously with a tinge of insanity. Not very comforting.

As the ice blonde withdrew something from his pocket, he visibly flinched and then began cursing in a language I didn't understand (Ancient Egyptian most likely). But his pained face dissolved in a cocky gloating smirk as he dangled something small and golden from his hand. "I believe this is a vital part of your plan," he chuckled, "And as you would say, Allie, boo ya in your face."

FML. Seriously. Mind reading is totally cheating.

I gritted my teeth together and pretended I hadn't heard that. Malik and slang are a horrible mix.

"Hey that's mine!" I glared, scooting my chair forward.

"Not for long," Malik retorted, sending the magical item a dirty look, "Soon it will recognize its new master." He picked up his own Millennium Item and brandished the golden scepter with a wave of his hand. The two mystical objects clashed but instantaneously repelled like magnets when north faces north.

I smirked in satisfaction, glad that at least it still liked me more. "Ooh burn, you were rejected." Ha I win.

"Hn."

Yeah that's right bitch.

Malik jabbed the Heart a few more times with the Rod; both items glowed angrily. It was then in the bright light that I saw burn marks on his hands and realized that the Heart was still rebelling. I wondered if it was still in my possession and Malik tried to take it- would it electrocute him like Bakura?

"Ra! You will obey your new master," Malik cursed under his breath.

I looked outside- it was pitch black. What time was it? Was there a duel still going on? How long had I been out? I opted to believe that the duel between Bakura and Yami was still going on because I highly doubted I would be in this situation if it wasn't.

_Don't be such a wuss!_

The voice rang so loudly I was sure Malik heard it as well. It wasn't me and definitely not Shadi and I don't think I was losing it so joy…a new person. God I'm a magnet for the crazy. At this point I'm not surprised. I'm too tired to care right now. The dark gloomy scenery of the blimp's room faded away and I found myself standing in a very misty null void, opposite a stranger.

And you would be? I asked sarcastically. Trapped in a chair, there's not much else to do to kill time- and then it hit me like a bright yellow school bus. Ooh ooh, are you the spirit of the Millennium Heart? I asked eagerly and excitedly. Yay maybe my day was turning-

_What the fuck is wrong with you! _

Guess not. I winced at the volume of the girl's voice. Sheesh excuse me for thinking outside the box. How am I supposed to know who you are when you appear out of nowhere huh? It was a total logical and legal assumption.

She seemed not to hear me.

_-like hell I'd want to be partnered with a klutz like you. Eww disgusting. Nasty. No way. You annoy me, _she raved immaturely- _and how DARE you tell the Pharaoh you like him! You completely don't match with him. _She accused, switching topics and pointing her index finger straight at me.

'What no I did- oh shit yeah I did.' Arg and just when I had forgotten about that to. Jeez nobody was supposed to have heard me. I was barely conscious! I blushed and pushed that embarrassing moment far away- to a place where hopefully no one will ever look. 'Okay, okay I get it.' I finally said trying to appease the strange girl, 'So then who are you?' I prompted in a friendly manner.

_The tooth fairy genius_ came the sarcastic response.

I could faintly make out a shape- it wasn't exactly a mona lisa picture, but it was better than a blob. I could at least distinguish that the voice belonged to a female, but everything except her arrogant cheshire cat smirk was obscured.

_No wait hang on. I've got a better one. I'm a figment of your imagination s_he mocked, letting lose a hearty flawless bitch laugh, _No, your conscience- that work for ya? What does it matter who I am you shit head _she snapped, her harsh tone

Look if you've just come here to be mean then go away. A _few _people have already beaten you to it, I told her wryly, rolling my eyes.

As the seconds passed, her silhouette became more defined and soon she became something more than a mere blob; everything but her face. Her crimson red side fringe cast a dark shadow across her face only leaving that smug conceited smile. The girl flicked a lock of her long black hair over her bare shoulder and placed a hand on her hip in a cocky manner.

_Hun, if I was here to be 'mean' _she air quoted _You'd already be on the floor in tears. I'm here because my patron believes you need saving and I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. So let's get this over with so I can go back and do something more meaningful than this…_her lip curled back in annoyance. I bet she was glaring at me or rolling her eyes. People seem to do that a lot to me ever since I arrived.

Even though I couldn't read her eyes, the nasty smile on her face told me whatever she was about to do was going to be extremely amusing for her (aka I'm in trouble). I turned on my heel and ran away. This place, where ever it was, had no hiding places- even the fog wasn't dense enough to shield me. I could hear her laughing manically. Why must everyone do that? It's not very comforting-

You know I just realized that if I die I can't blame anyone.

Multiple extremely sharp painful objects stabbed me all simultaneously and I fell. Okay so I'm exaggerating a little, it didn't hurt _that_ much. I subconsciously braced myself for a face plant as that's what most people do when they fall, but one never came. It was such a weird feeling. Falling and falling but never hitting-

"Eeee," I yelped as I fell forward for real- right out of the chair and onto the hard floor. My fast reflexes managed to steady myself before I broke my nose on the way down. I ended up landing awkwardly- of course hurting my fingers in the process. Typical me. I must be a masochist for pain what with the way I'm hurting myself every other minute. But now is not the time to dwell on how many times I can injure myself in a day nor to question what had just happened.

I scrambled to my feet, catching Malik's dumfounded expression on the way up. Time seemed to stop and we were stuck looking at each other. That is until I remembered that time wasn't actually stuck and that I could move. I darted forward, grinning like a goon, and snatched back what was mine.

Malik once more became animated and he shot his hand forward.

Four letters dude: GTFO.

I sprinted clumsily to the door but two lean arms stretched past me and I found myself cornered between a locked door and Malik. Well isn't this just fine fucking dandy?

I glared defiantly at the ice blonde looming over me.

He smirked, "Enjoy your permanent trip to the shadow realm," he said cheerfully.

**-X-**

"I'm afraid this duel is almost over." Bakura announced gleefully, a triumphant smirk spreading across his face, "One more attack to your life points and you're finished." he noted with dark enthusiasm, adding in a sinister laugh for extra effect. Bakura's happy moment, shall we call it, didn't last very long and soon an irritated scowl marred his pale features accompanied by a pair of furrowed brows. Urg, here he was, about to win and the bastard Pharaoh didn't even have the courtesy to care.

Bakura folded his arms in a bored manner and rolled his eyes, "Sometime in this millennium would be nice, Pharaoh," he drawled sarcastically, "Before I die of old age," Bakura added as an after thought, grumbling to himself under his breath.

Still no reaction out of the King of Games.

Where was the respect he so rightly deserved? Bakura was sorely tempted to fling his duel disk at the Pharaoh as he doubted the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle would even notice. Bakura was giddy that he was going to crush Yugi, but this win meant nothing- oh well it's not like he really cared anyways how he obtained the Millennium Item. That was his main objective anyways. Better for him that the Pharaoh wasn't paying attention; although Bakura would win even if the Pharaoh was focused.

"Forfeiting eh?" Bakura asked jadedly. He threw the Pharaoh a taunting smirk, his brown eyes tracing the movements of his ghost. It weaved in-between the Pharaoh's monsters, slithering like a snake hunting its prey; deciding which monster would be ideal to posses. "Well come on Yugi," Bakura challenged, "Pick your poison. Forfeit gracefully or suffer a humiliating defeat."

"Never!" Yami snapped suddenly, his amethyst orbs flashing angrily.

Bakura smirked as he watched the Pharaoh set two cards. What a lame play. But it looked like he was finally starting to realize he was going to lose- not risking an attack was a sign of weakness. "Finally," the spirit of the ring muttered rolling his eyes. Just as Bakura was about to make a move, he caught the Pharaoh yet again turning his head to glance at the elevator doors.

Bakura wasn't the only one to notice the lightening fast turn of the head, Kaiba had seen it to. It wasn't an obvious full 180 degree turn of the head, but a quick subtle glance over the shoulder. And it pissed him off. This duel was pathetic. Was Yugi even trying? So far not to Kaiba's knowledge. He had started off strong, showing the talent that had earned him the title: King of Games. But then his dueling got sloppy and Yugi made careless mistakes and now this. At this rate, Yugi was going to lose. And that was unacceptable in Kaiba's book.

There were two reasons behind Kaiba's spontaneous actions of hosting a duel monsters tournament. One: to collect all three Egyptian God Cards. And Two (the one that really counted): humiliate, shame, degrade, and every other word that existed and was synonymous to said definition, Yugi Moto in front of the whole world and regain his proper title as being the number one duelist. Now he couldn't do number two if Yugi lost here, which would render this entire tournament pointless.

Kaiba watched with grim anticipation as the destiny board revealed yet another letter. F-I-N. Kaiba folded his arms as he was subjected to the geek squad's bewilderment at what the board could possibly be spelling out. God help them, Kaiba shook his head glaring at them. They weren't even supposed to be here. The geek squad. Something clicked inside his head and he took a closer look at the lame geek squad; counting them off on his fingers.

**-X-**

Trapped between a warped schizophrenic maniac and a door I couldn't figure out how to open. What horrible things to be trapped between. Malik's malicious gaze pierced straight through me. One of his hands had roughly grasped my chin, forcing me vision straight into his line of sight. His other hand was still propped against the door clutching the Millennium Rod.

"How about you enjoy _this_!" I fired back. Like I would politely lay down and calmly wait for Malik to walk all over me. I don't need to be saved as that girl in my head kindly pointed out, I am totally capable of saving myself. Just watch me. I raised my leg upward and then sent my foot flying forward as though I was trying to kick a door open. Coincidentally as Malik stumbled backwards, wheezing for air and clutching his family jewels, he managed to open the door.

Freedom!

Not.

You see had my plan gone right, I'd already be down the hall, desperately searching for the elevator or Ishizu. But dumb Malik managed to get his stupid Millennium Item ensnared in my dumb hair and drag me down with him. Stupid jerk!

"Ow stop pulling!" I snapped, blindly trying to untangle my hair from around the golden scepter. Malik wasn't helping by tugging and yanking his item. He just managed to give me a giant headache. I clawed at his hand, but he still held on.

Pull.

"Ow!"

Tug.

"Ow!"

Yank.

"Argh!"

I was going to have a giant bald patch if Malik kept this up. I glared down at him and he glared right back, pulling at my hair. He was being completely unreasonable. Here I was trying to _help_ him get his magical wand back and he was fighting me. My back was starting cramp from this awkward position as I was hunched over Malik. "Ow, ow, ow, ow- OW!" I shrieked, "Brule en enfer!"

It wasn't fair.

The door was open. Yet I was here. I could see the bright light reflecting off the window. I was so close.

**-X-**

She had been right behind him.

_Yami don't worry_ Yugi said soothingly, appearing beside him. He placed two comforting hands on his other half's shoulders and gave a warm smile _She's fine. _Yugi could feel the worry and anxiety that pulsed rapidly throughout Yami. His heartbeat was fast, sweat trickled down from his brow and his eyes darted around every few seconds. But even Yugi doubted his own words. He turned to look at the elevator as Yami was busying strategizing his next move.

What if Allie really was in trouble? Yugi wondered to himself as he returned his attention back to the duel. He didn't want to voice aloud the idea that Marik may have gotten to her. After all he wasn't here either. Yugi hoped Yami hadn't noticed that Allie wasn't the only one not present. But for now since they were unable to do anything, Yugi had to believe that Allie was all right. She was his important friend after all.

_All right yes! _Yugi cheered.

"Say goodbye to your Dark Sanctuary!" Yami stated, smirking in triumph.

Yugi watched eagerly as the Pharaoh turned the tide against the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring. They were going to win this duel. They had to. In order to save the world and stop Marik. _Way to go Pharaoh _Yugi grinned. His friend was regaining his spirit back. They could do this- Yugi felt his heart waver. The smaller boy looked to find Yami shifting his gaze down to his friends. No Allie.

Kaiba glowered. So he had been right. Damn that stupid girl. She yet again found a way to prevent him from dueling Yugi without physically being here. Kaiba tapped his finger impatiently on his arm, the vein on his forehead growing bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked by. So what if Yugi had figured out a way to turn the duel around. He was still dueling half assed.

"Yugi," Kaiba interjected.

Yami side glanced at Kaiba showing he was listening.

"Don't you dare think about losing to this amateur. I plan on defeating you in the Battle City finals, in front of everyone. If you lose here then you're just pathetic and a waste of my time." Kaiba gave the King of Games a very pointed stare.

No further words were necessary.

Yami nodded his head in understanding.

He closed his eyes and cleared his mind temporarily of all thoughts.

**-X-**

This could possibly be the most bizarre situation I have ever been in. And yes in case you are wondering, the Rod is still tangled up in my hair. Malik's one solution to this problem was to pull. It was like pulling a push door open and vice versa. One particular rough yank had me falling forward and I barely pulled back in time to prevent a tragedy.

"Stop pulling you moron," I seethed through gritted teeth.

"Hn."

I mimicked him while making a face, "Oh yes because this is really working."

Malik narrowed his eyes, "There will be hell to pay," he growled; all formality of 'my dear' and 'Allie' and polite speech were gone.

This madness had to stop. It wasn't fun for either of us. And we were in such an awkward position. If only it was Yami…err never mind. Back to stopping this retarded fuckery. Countless of times wrestling with my kid brother had taught me the art of the sacred Wet Willy jutsu. An extremely nasty surprise only to be used in a dire situation…such as this.

"Wet Willy!" I declared in a somewhat sing song voice. Why I felt the need to announce what I was doing, I don't know. Maybe give Malik a sporting chance against it. Poor fellow, never saw it coming.

Confusion flashed across his face as his feature contorted, "What-" but the rest of his sentence was silenced as he clenched his jaw shut.

I leapt backward off of him and watched at how thoroughly disgusted he was. I sympathized with him though as I knew the full extent of how nasty a wet willy could be. But that didn't mean it wasn't amusing to watch his reaction. I multitasked: watch Malik while meticulously and skillfully undo the giant knot in my hair. I succeeded in freeing my hair before Malik could recover. The hazardous magical item fell to floor with a loud clang rolling onto its side. Malik made no attempt to move or do anything. I felt bad.

Urg no Allie! Feeling bad is a no no!

But I can't help it, the guy may never have children again, I argued back to myself, casting a quick glance at the motionless king of evil.

Since when do you care? Turn around and walk away.

The pressure of trying to decide who to listen to, myself or myself, felt like I was being pulled in two. I finally gave in and went against my better instinct. Man am I going to regret this. But as much as I disliked Malik, he was technically using Marik's body and Marik didn't deserve the excruciating pain he was going to feel when he came back. Okay well he sort of does for being an arrogant jerk. But I like Marik, he's good in the end. And he's my like…sixth favorite and that is good enough reason for me.

I massaged the back of my head, giving the door a longing look. Alright, I'm just going to make sure he's okay, then I'm getting the hell out of here, I told myself confidently. Quick check, that's it. I had to repeat the plan to myself a couple of times to override any stupid impulse that might overcome me. Quick check. I picked up the fallen Millennium Item and chucked it into a corner- out of Malik's reach; before I dared to approach him.

"Yo," I called down, towering over the sleeping beauty.

No response.

I hesitated on the idea of touching him. That was definitely a no no. "If you're pretending to be unconscious or something and you try and scare me, I'll punch you," I warned, giving him a look. Do you know how many times Sam has scared me, bolting upright and roaring in my face or catching me by the shoulder? So many times. I'm not going to fall for it this time though.

A rattling noise set off just as I was crossing the threshold back to safety. I looked back to see that the Millennium Rod moving…on it's own. Damn, I shouldn't have looked back. I checked Malik to make sure it wasn't him doing that. It wasn't. Or at least I think it wasn't Malik.

Suddenly I felt a heavy pulling sensation in the pit of my stomach; like reverse butterflies. I imagined that the blimp was heading for a crash collision with Domino City, the way gravity glued me to the floor. I half expected myself to tumble forward and smash into the wall. I could hear my name being called; a soft whisper ringing in my ears, slowly rising to a loud forte reminding me of rushing water. So much noise rocketing off in my head.

The room swayed and everything doubled.

I turned my blurred gaze to the circular window to see if we were really spiraling down into oblivion. I couldn't tell if anything was abnormal. Suddenly a flash of lightening blinded the room and a beastly bellow sounded off from above.

I closed my eyes to prevent myself from retching all over the place. Placing a hand on my head to steady myself, I stood up on shaky legs and groped for a wall to lean against. I found nothing. It was then that I realized the ringing in my ears had died completely and I no longer felt sick.

Something hot and steamy buffeted my face. A cool breeze gently passed over me.

I am so confused.

Cautiously I opened my eyes, afraid to know what was going on.

Did we crash?

Two sets of great big pearly white teeth protruded out of two massive jaws- one layered on top of the other - greeted me. And then I saw red, literally and two giant amber eyes staring at me.

HOLY FU-

* * *

**A/N**- Oh my god, how long has it been? Jeez I've been gone for soooooooooo long. Well first things first before I launch into a long a/n. Thank you my loyal reviewers, hope you enjoyed. Also thanks to those who favorited and alerted it (reminding me to work on updating xD) Anyways yes, I've got so much to tell you. Haha it's like 2 in the morning right now. Ack I'm so sorry to those of you who pm-ed me asking when I'd update. I told you guys like two weeks ago that it would be up any day. Gosh I hope you guys like it.

Man I feel kind of bad that for the amount of time I've been gone, there isn't much in the chapter. Truth be told I only started working on it in the middle of august. I had thought, over the summer, about attempting to write it, but I was lazy. It's funny really. Just after I had posted chap 17, I sat down in starbucks and wrote down this story's plan (at least for the next few chapter) just incase I forgot where this was heading. And ironically just as I wrote everything down, I was unable to actually write for it, even though I had my plan. I had told myself to pace myself and take breaks with writing this so I didn't run out of inspiration/steam. Guess I jinxed myself there. Anywho for the past week and a half I would sit at my desk with my computer open and just promptly fall asleep.

God I really want to get them off the blimp. There is nothing to do on the blimp but duel and I can't write for that. I think in the next two chapters they're gonna finally be in the virtual world. I can't take the blimp. The trouble I had for this chapter, as usual, was writing the beginning. Actually accruing to my plan the ending was supposed to be with Ryou lying in a comatose state in his bed after his duel with Yugi. But my plan for this chapter was just so long that I have to break it in two again. But the part of the talk will happen next chapter. I'm not sure how much will be in there, but I can say the beginning.

OMG so how was your summer? School started up again. Poo. I am officially a senior. God so many essays and apps to fill out. It's taking up all my time. I had an awesome summer. I went to Bard Simon's Rock for their three week writing program. You'd think I'd have time to write for FF, but it was all creative writing like memoirs and poetry. Imagine my horror lol. I spent my free time chilling with my homies and also being jetlagged. If you were at that writing program TELL ME! It was just so much fun, I LOVED IT!

Anyways I seriously hope I haven't lost any reviewers or readers because I've taken so long. I apologize once again *bows head* and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Allie's character development is starting to show because if you compare her to the beginning chapters, she's a bit more tight. Well we are getting to the more serious pars and she does go with the flow. But I'm going to try my best to keep her fun.

Oh one thing I noticed (I think) when I was rereading this was Allie's eyes and hair keep switching. To clarify she has hazel hair and chocolate eyes. I think in the beginning I made it the other way around, but that's a mistake.

Oh yes and one more thing. We have a new player as you can see. Who is she? Hmmm…you'll find out later :D

As some of you have already discovered, I have posted a poll of my profile concerning details for the Pharaoh's Knight. Voting will be open until I get to the last season of Yugioh, or relatively around that time period so yeah- that's a loooooong time.

**Allie: 2**

**Tea: 3**

**Joey: 1**

So vote ^^ Even I haven't made a final decision.

**MEGA ULTRA SUPER SPECIAL THANKS TO! **

**grapejuice101**

**Couldn'tThinkOfaName **

**Aqua girl 007 **

**Amielia**

**Dontgotaclue88**

**Azelf1717 **

**Toaster-Omlette **

**GirXzimXfanatic**

**Aurineko**

**Ice**

**TheGirlTypingThisOutDuh**

**Darquesse **

**EgyptianSoul88 **

**FallingxForever**

**Malkavian-Acts**

**bookwork2131**

**suicide-sama**

**REVIEW!**

**Sorry guys I didn't reply this time, I just wanted to post asap, but thank you all, I'm so happy.**

**ZTL**


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Chapter 19**

_Oh written in the stars, a million miles away_

First thought: HOLYSHITTHEBASILISK!

Second thought: Wait that's not possible.

On a scale from 1 to 10 for most bizarre, including the fact that I'm from another world, this earns a solid 20. This is one of those times where you'd have to see it to believe it. Because there's no way you'd believe me otherwise. Here, in front of me, is Slifer the Sky Dragon- unless you happen to know another gigantic red dragon. But I think it's safe to assume it's him.

Slifer's massive body seemed to be suspended in midair. He was moving, I could see that much, but he didn't seem to be alive- like almost as if he was frozen. Concerned, I reached out to touch him only to instantly retract my hand.

"Yeah, shadow magic's a bitch," a voice spat.

Suddenly the dark abyss melted away revealing vibrant gold. I found myself standing in some sort of throne room amphitheater.

"Well this makes it official."

"Indeed."

"Dammit."

I cocked my head up to see three people (one whom I recognized instantly) lounging about. The girl smirked at me and then jumped down from her seat, "Well looks like you aren't as worthless as I thought," she mused, flashing me a dangerous grin.

I frowned, "And what's that supposed to mean," I shot back coolly.

"Oh nothing," the girl replied in a tone that obviously insinuated otherwise.

"Alice," interjected another, also jumping down from his spot, "Don't be so mean. She passed with flying colors so deal with it." he said.

Can they not talk about me like I'm not here? "Excuse me, but what exactly do you mean?" I asked with annoyance. Who the heck are these people? But more importantly WHERE am I? Don't tell me I fell into another fountain.

The boy laughed, "Sorry. I'm Jaq. This is Alice- delightful girl isn't she? And him up there, that's the Mad Hatter, but you can call him Hatter." Jaq grinned, "And what I mean is it's not everyday we see humans, such as yourself, come here. Therefore you're special." he concluded proudly.

"Yeah she's special alright," Alice muttered.

I threw her a dirty look.

Jaq stepped in front of the one called Alice, "Don't mind her Allie. Alice is always grumpy-"

"Where the heck am I?" I bursted out loud, cutting Jaq off (oh I am not going to comment on their names, I am not!).

The third one, Hatter, drifted over, an apologetic smile on his face.

"Well…physically you're probably most likely still on Seto Kaiba's airship. Mentally you should be here, in the scared temple, home to Slifer the Sky Dragon," he explained cheerfully.

My brain only caught parts of his explanations. My heart lurched before jump starting into overdrive. "Probably most likely!" I exclaimed, my voice tightening and dying at the same time, "What do you mean?"

He tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Well…"

That's never a good sign.

"We may or may not have mixed up a summoning spell with a teleportation spell. But don't worry!" he added hastily, seeing the alarmed expression on my face, "It can be fixed…I think."

I gaped at him, "What!"

Hatter laughed, "I'm only joking. But you should see your face," he said childishly.

These people are crazy! How do I get out of here? I looked around hopefully for an exit of some sort-a sign saying 'Reality This Way' would be very nice right about now. Hatter's all to cheerfully insane voice brought my focus back onto him.

"-no you got here all on your own," he grinned, turning upside-down while cross-legged, "Which proves you've got what it takes. Our king chose right."

I raised a brow, "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

"I'm going to smash your head through a wall!" Alice announced loudly. Thankfully Jaq held her back.

I took a couple of steps away from her, but I'm pretty sure no amount of space between us is going to reassure me.

"Now now Alice calm down," Hatter said soothingly, "Obviously Allie here has been poorly informed. Dear, we're talking about the fact that our king has chosen you, out of many other candidates, to…well you don't really have a title. Anyways just try and keep up because we can't afford to waste time chit chatting." Hatter ended on a serious note.

I am so confused.

Alice popped up next to the Hatter. Dark purple eyes, the color of midnight, revealed themselves as she pressed her face in front of mine. "Ra, you're stupid," she sneered with distaste, "What's there to be confused about? Just think of yourself as our king's errand girl."

"…"

Jaq, seeing that I still had no idea what anyone of the two were talking about, tried simplifying it even more for me, "Alice stop talking," he said, waving the ebony haired girl away, "Allie, your more important than our sweet little Malice is making you out-"

To this comment, "Malice" rolled her eyes and disappeared.

"Look, that 'story' Ishizu told you about the Pharaoh's Knight- honestly that's the stupidest name ever- there's more to it than just protecting the Pharaoh and dying for him." I caught Jaq looking over to Hatter before continuing, "Allie, now that you've become the wearer of the Millennium Heart, your our king's temporary host. Our king, Slifer, never died, shadow magic restrained him inside the Heart. He has been like this," Jaq gestured to the great dragon behind him, "for five thousand years."

I gaped wide eyed at Jaq and then robotically turned to gape at Slifer. I noticed thick silver chains rained down upon the god, wrapping themselves around his body. "He's been like this, all this time?" I said quietly.

"Yeah." replied Jaq, "But that's where you come in,"

"How can I help?" I meant to ask myself mentally, but the words just came out.

Jaq grinned, "Because you're the one who's going free our king!"

My legs began to shake and I slowly sunk to the floor, overwhelmed by everything. "I-I'm not the Pharaoh's Knight," I protested faintly.

Hatter bounced over, "Ah but he brought you here nonetheless. That has to count for something, no?" the blonde said trying to be clever, but failing horribly. I glared up at him and silently communicated that he was not at all being helpful nor making me feel better.

"Now any questions?" Hatter prompted innocently, "But hurry because we're seriously running out of time."

I opened my mouth but then closed it- there were many things I wanted to ask that I needed to prioritize them. Finally I decided on one, "How am I supposed to free Slifer?"

Hatter answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Break the Heart."

"How…"

Both males looked at each other before Hatter spoke up, "No idea. Good luck though!" he voiced enthusiastically, grinning madly. Hatter suddenly stopped laughing, a grim expression appearing on his face. The same expression appeared on Jaq's face and Alice even reappeared. Everyone's gaze was directed down the long ceremonial hall- a door! I noted and then scolded myself for spacing out on something that was not important.

Both Alice and Jaq sailed forward while Hatter pulled me to the side, "Sorry Allie. I know you have more questions. We won't be able to talk to you for a while- we used up all the magic and energy we could spare. You have to break the Heart. Don't let anyone else tell your otherwise. Also pass a message on to the Pharaoh: he must make up his mind."

What's that supposed to mean?

* * *

Okay yes I realize this chapter is short. I really hope you liked it even though it was kind of all OC interaction. I also realize I lied again, but seriously don't worry because the next chapter will be up in the next couple of hours. The reason I'm posting this chapter is because I couldn't fit it anywhere into my other chapter. I tried to make it a flashback, but it was so long, that by the time I was done reading it, I forgot what happened just before the flashback. This is an important filler. Anyways I hope I kept things interesting even though no Yami appeared.

A/N continued in the next chapter.

**Thanks to all you special people for staying with this story XD**

**grapejuice101 **yeah stuff between Yami and Allie is developing really slowly and won't pick up until later because Yami is SO dense and SLOW.

**The-Living-Shadow **Hmm I can't say anything about the PK. Vote though ^^ Hopefully this chapter was helpful.

**Ice** I always thank my reviewers ^^ The voting is for the PK. This chapter went into great detail about the girl 'inside' Allie's head. Except she's not inside her head, more like the Heart- but that's kind of pushing it. Actually I'm not really sure where she comes from :D

**xCouldn'tThinkOfaName **Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm annoyed I couldn't make this fit in with soon to be posted chapter 20. I am probably most likely not going to switch from Allie's pov (like in last chapter) unless I absolutely have to. I'm trying for this story to stick to only Allie's pov- just testing out things. But I'm glad you liked it anyways. Anyways thanks for reviewing :)

**Dontgotaclue88**

**Aurineko**

**Just someone who was bored **Thanks, I try hard because I'm terrible at writing humor, but I'm trying.

**Random Kat **

**ImmortalAngel92 **Aww you're so sweet, reviewing every single chapter. Thank you. I'm really pleased to know that you like this story. You're reviews really made me smile and even laugh.

**yugioh lover 13 **Allie's love interest? Hmm not telling XD I never actually stated a pairing and even though things look good for a certain someone, it might not stay that way.

**AnimeLover5125**

**suicide-sama **I hope you liked this chapter even though there were no canon characters involved. But don't worry, the next chapter is all about them! And it'll be out today!

**AMermaidsMelody **

**TexasDreamer01 **hope you continue to stay with this story ^^

**Lenora23 **Don't be disappointed. I never stated the pairings. Who knows…

**Review!**

**I'm really sorry no canons appeared in this chapter. I wanted to make it all fit.**

**But stay tuned because only this once is it a double feature.**

**ZTL.**


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Double feature continued. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

_There's a fire starting in my heart_

* * *

_Break the Heart..._

* * *

My head hurts…but that's not anything new since it's been throbbing for a while now. Actually it feels like it's going to explode. Ugh really. Don't people know me? I'm not the person to keep secrets. I like being stupid (in this context).

I hate lying- especially to Yami (he's the guy who's supposed to save the world! He NEEDS to know). I feel like absolute crap. I want Yami to like (you know what I mean) me. This is not the way to get him to like me. If I'm forced to hold it all in, it's all going to come gushing out at the wrong moment because my luck likes to screw me over like that.

"I know you're awake."

Who dares to bother me when I'm obviously busy? Annoyed, I forced myself to open my eyes so I could see the person I was about to yell at. Bright sunlight greeted me. Great, now Rebecca Black's highly annoying song Friday has just started playing in my head- and I wonder why my head hurts so much…Wait hold up, sunlight? It's daytime?

"Hn."

A sudden cough reminded me that I was supposed to be yelling right now. I looked to my left, ready to bite the head off the genius who was stupid enough to bother me, only to find Seto Kaiba staring at me.

So naturally I screamed.

Loudly.

"Grey!" Kaiba snapped, glaring darkly at me, "Be quiet before someone misunderstands."

I couldn't help it! What should I have done instead, be pleased to see him? Why is Kaiba here? He hates me. I slapped my hands over my mouth and only stared at him wide-eyed. Before I could stop myself, I asked, "Why are you here?"

"Don't think it's because I care," Kaiba informed me sardonically, "This is my ship and I'm liable for the non-dualists on board."

Translation: he cares.

Creepy though. But still sweet.

"Aww," I cooed, "That's the nicest thing you've ever told me." I reached over to pat him, but Kaiba was to fast. He stepped back, successfully evading my attempts to pat him. I pouted but then quickly broke out into a grin, "Mokuba!" I chirped happily, waving at the younger Kaiba.

At least someone looked happy to see me. "Allie!" Mokuba replied, "You're finally awake."

"Yup." I glanced outside, "How long was I out for anyways?"

"Mokuba, stay here. I'm going to make sure we're on course." Kaiba interrupted, swiftly stalking out.

"Bye, Kaiba." I called out.

Ignored.

Mokuba took a seat next to me, "You've been asleep for about a day and a half. And boy have you missed out on a lot of stuff- Allie you're still really pale!" he stated with a frown.

I held my arm up to the light to inspect myself. Mokuba wasn't kidding. I was so white, I could quite possibly pass myself off as Bakura's twin or something- and I'm sure he'd be absolutely thrilled at that idea. "Anyways," I said, "What were you saying about missing out on stuff?" I already had a general idea, but if I didn't ask it would be suspicious. And the last thing I need is to draw attention to my situation.

"Oh right," and then Mokuba launched into his very thrilling tale," Well first off, Yugi creamed Bakura. He managed to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon at the last moment and then wipe out the rest of Bakura's life points. Bakura sustained serious damage from the aftermath and he still hasn't woken up yet!"

I nodded, "Uh huh."

"And wow you should have seen Joey. He was so cool," Mokuba said with admiration, "He got struck by lightening, but still won! And get this. The guy Joey was dueling against turned out to be some guy called Odion- not Marik- he just works for Marik. The real Marik was pretending to be Namu!"

I gasped.

"-And then poor Odion, he's fallen into some sort of coma. But Marik doesn't even care!" Mokuba raged, "Can you believe what a jerk Marik is?"

Oh I could believe it. But if only Mokuba new the real truth. Marik was just an annoying harmless idiot. Malik was the one to be worried about. I still owe him a good kick down under for what he did to me. Invading my mind and laughing at me. That colossal butthead!

I snapped my attention back onto Mokuba, who has now restored to wild hand gestures as he got to the climatic part of his story.

"But that's not even the worst part!" he exclaimed, "Mai had it the worst because she battled Marik. Everything was going great. She even managed to take Marik's Winged Dragon of Ra away from him. But it was all a trick. Marik wanted Mai to have his card. In the end, Mai, couldn't summon the Egyptian God Card. And then the freakiest thing happened. Marik started going off about losing the shadow duel and that Mai had to pay the price. Both Yugi and Joey tried to stop Marik, but," Mokuba shrugged, all emotion gone from his voice, "I don't know, but now Mai is also in a coma…"

Clearly mini Kaiba was upset, but I didn't know how to cheer up the fourteen year old. I patted him on the head and tried to change the subject, "And what about your brother, how'd Mr. I-hate-people do?"

"Awesome!" Mokuba declared, jumping to his feet, "Seto crushed that eighth duelist. It was epic!"

I grinned, "Good for him. So are all the preliminary battles over?"

He nodded his head vigorously, "Yeah, now we're on course for the semi finals."

"Great," I replied. A loud grumbling sound, that could be mistaken for an angry beaver, alerted me to the fact that I needed food. Now. And people think Joey's a pig, well they haven't met me yet. I'm so hungry, I could eat my own body weight in grilled cheeses and burgers and then some. I mean seriously, I am hungry. And I've got cravings. Joey's got nothing on me. "Oh man, I need food." I complained, clutching my stomach.

"Roland can make you something," Mokuba offered.

I shook my head, "Un uh. Mokuba, you don't understand how hungry I am. I'm like Joey hungry- and not in that way. But if Joey was starving, you could imagine how much he'd eat. Well triple that, and that's how hungry I am. So just direct me to the buffet or kitchen- I'm honestly not that picky. I just need food." I declared passionately just as my stomach growled again. Being Slifer's temporary host sucks. I'm essentially eating for me _and_ him. I'm going to gain so much weight, I'll be worse than my favorite comical blonde.

I swung myself off the bed and felt a sharp pinch. "Owwwww," I rubbed my arm. Apparently someone forgot to inform me I was hooked up to an IV and now I have blood trailing down my arm.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah, everything's just peachy. Now, before I eat you, let's go go go go go!" I ushered Mokuba forward. I grabbed my hoodie and left my godforsaken heels behind. "Food, glorious food. Food, glorious food," I sang merrily, skipping along side of little Mokie.

We ended up checking the breakfast hall first to see if there was anything left over. To my delight, there was. Completely forgetting about Mokuba, I rushed over- unsure of where to start. Pancakes, waffles, tater tots, toast, fruit salad and so much more- thank you Kaiba for being so rich. I'm not sure what happened to Mokuba, but I was glad he wasn't around to see me pig out.

Ten, fat, golden, fluffily pancakes with butter and sugary sweet maple syrup dripping down from all sides, three large spoonfuls of tater tots with a handful of ketchup, a plate of cantaloupe, a couple of blueberry muffins and a large glass of milk. Yes this is my breakfast. And yes, I'm probably going to go back for more when I'm done.

I plopped myself down, pulling my cards out and placing them off to the side. It was as I was finishing off my tater tots and moving onto chowing down on muffins, that company finally found me in the form of Joey and Yugi.

I choked on my muffin as the two came bursting in.

"Just…heard…from…Mokuba," Yugi said breathlessly.

"You're awake!" Joey finished, beaming at me.

I looked like a deer caught in headlights. Quickly, while they were gasping for air, I spat out the contents of my mouth into a napkin by faking a cough and shoved my plates down to the end of the table.

Joey pulled me into a bone crushing bear hug, "How come you didn't tell us?" he demanded after releasing me.

I shrugged, "Sorry Jo-"

"Ah, I'm just messin wit ya, Ag," Joey laughed, ruffling my hair, "Ya just woke up. I would have come here to," he gestured to the buffet. Conversation with Joey ceased as the blonde became side-tracked with leftovers from breakfast.

That just left Yugi and I and as we were smiling at each other, I remembered that the last time we talked was just before his duel with Bakura where I managed to embarrass myself…again. But not this time! I will not do anything to embarrass myself.

"So how are you feeling?" Yugi asked.

Bloated. Fat. Tired. "Good," I lied. Something in the back of my mind nipped at me, urging me to speak. I tried to push it away, but the pain only got worse. "Yugi, can you tell Yami, I've got a message from his friends," I said quietly.

Yugi replied with a confused expression.

"From his _old_ friends,"

Only a puzzled expression stared at me.

"His friends from five thousand years ago," I deadpanned.

"O-oh. Sorry," Yugi flushed red.

"It's okay. Anyways I'll explain later," I said, giving a meaningful glance over at Joey. Yugi nodded, showing he understand. "I heard about Ryou and Mai- I'm sorry. I'm sure you've found someway to blame yourself, but it's not your fault. You tried your best." I seized the moment and gave Yugi a comforting hug while whispering, "And just to let you know, everything turns out alright with both of them,"

"Thanks Allie," Yugi said before I let go.

"Ag!" Joey shouted, rushing over suddenly (with his plateful of food), "You know that guy, Namu? Stay away from him cause he's actually a twisted man named Malik!"

I nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Joey looked like he had a long speech prepared but was now at loss for words.

"He told me," I clarified, calmly. After seeing Joey's horrified expression, I added, "I'm not on his side." And so I retold them my little episode with the King of Evil, starting with how Bakura had turned on me and basically was the reason why I went through that exhausting situation with blondie, and ending with how I heroically managed to knock the lunatic unconscious before fainting myself. Of course I skipped the dialog and told them a highly edited version- no need to get them worked up over something that already happened.

Yugi was the first to react, "You could have gotten seriously hurt," he blurted out.

Joey, on the other hand, found something else to comment on, "Ag," he said, in the same urgent voice he had used when trying to tell me about Malik, "Bakura wasn't in his right mind, back then, so don't be mad at him. He was being possessed by a ghost!" Joey claimed dramatically.

"Ghost isn't the right term," Yugi corrected weakly, "More like the spirit of the Ring,"

Joey shrugged.

"Yeah," I drawled, "I kind of knew that too…"

"Say wha?" came Joey's dumbfounded response.

I exchanged a glance with Yugi. He shrugged so I guess that means it's okay to clue Joey in, "Yeah…Joey I know about the Millennium Items and about the evil some of them hold." I confessed. I gave Joey a small grin, trying to make the situation humorous, "What do you think this is?" I asked casually, holding up the Millennium Heart. I don't think Yugi expected me to reveal that much because a flash of surprise crossed his face.

Joey yelped, startling the both of us.

"What?" I questioned.

"You're not gonna get possessed too are ya? And try and mind control us or worse turn us into duel monsters?" he asked, warily staring at me.

Yugi and I both laughed at his ridiculous inquiry.

"No Joey," I laughed, clutching my stomach, "Nothing resides inside this thing. Actually it doesn't do much- at least not to my knowledge." Okay that's a lie, but I can't tell Joey something I haven't told Yugi yet- that wouldn't fair, "The only thing it does is protect me from being mentally or physically banished to the shadow realm." As soon as the words left my mouth I instantly wish I hadn't said them.

I am such an idiot! Me and my big mouth. Bad Allie!

"Joey, I'm sorry," I placed a hand on his shoulder, "But we'll get Mai back. You know that." I tried to look Joey in the eye as I reassured him, but he wouldn't lift his head up. I turned to Yugi, who only nodded his head encouragingly. Thanks for the help. "Joey no matter what, even if I…I have to beat Malik repeatedly with his own Rod! We're getting Mai back."

I fiddled with my own magical item, running it across my fingers. This stupid thing was more trouble than it was worth really. And either Ishizu was unaware or lied to me because she only told me half the story.

"What Allie says is true Joey,"

I looked over to grin at Yugi for backing me up but Yugi was no longer there. I dropped Joey's hand and gawked at the Yugi look alike. Damn he's quick, I thought to myself. I blushed when our eyes met and hastily looked away. I immediately mentally face palmed myself- way to go Allie could you be more obvious?

All further conversation ceased as Yami delivered one of his famous 'save the world together' speeches, except he replaced 'world' with Mai. In my opinion, my speech was much more passionate, but apparently Joey can only be moved by Yami's speeches as the former returned once more to his fun loving loud self.

And of course our emotional moment ended when Joey managed to get sidetracked, "Hey whose plates are those?" he wondered aloud, curiously looking over me towers the end of the table.

Joey you amaze me.

A fun joke popped into my head and I couldn't resist from following it through, "Oh those belong to Kaiba," I answered slowly, trying to hold back my grin, "You see Jo, Kaiba, often breaks out into these weird food craving fetishes that make him eat and eat- even more than you. But the reason he manages to stay so thin is that he takes laxatives like we breathe air. And I know this because he asked me if I had any with me as he forgot his." Oh it is so hard not to laugh right now. Revenge is sweet.

As predicted Joey burst out laughing. "Aw man, you serious Ag?" Joey wheezed out in between gasps for air.

"Yeah," I glanced over at Yami who remained straight faced as ever.

"Hehe, it's time for some embarrassing payback," Joey giggled childishly, "I'll see ya guys later,"

Hmm I am a total genius because not only did I succeed in making us laugh (Yami so doesn't count) I also got rid of Joey. Now Allie, tell him now!

"Hey Yugi!"

* * *

So far every time I have tried to talk to Yami, I have been interrupted. After Joey left, before I could even get a word in, Tea appeared. I thought she was okay in the beginning, now I just despise her and her inconvenient timing. This is not the first or the second but the third time she's done this! After I finally managed to get Yami away from Tea, he was dragged off by Tristan and Duke. I followed them, becoming a third-wheel wallflower. I had to sacrifice poor Serenity in order to get the two away. But did it end there? No. Because Kaiba had to come storming in ranting about laxatives. He stalked me all over and when I had escaped him, Tea was latched onto Yami again.

She's with him right now!

And I'm all by myself. I'm starting to think maybe it'd be better if I just wrote everything down on a piece of paper and just nonverbally tell Yami. Because every other method is going wrong. I really don't know what to do. Certain people want me to tell Yami stuff, you'd think they could help me out a bit. I tried talking to them, but then I felt silly and nothing happened.

Loud giggling echoed down the hall.

There are only five females on this aircraft. Mai's in a coma, Ishizu's antisocial, I'm not laughing and it's too hearty to be Serenity. Not wanting to be seen, I sidestepped into the room next to me, keeping my ear pressed to the door.

"Yugi, let's go and visit Mai,"

Cunning witch aren't you? I glared at the back of Tea's head. Yami's too polite to say no. As they rounded the corner, I tried to think of a way to get Yami back. I swear if I had some rope, I'd lasso Yami and then lock him in a closet so no one would find him and I could finally talk to him. Yes I think that's going to be my endgame, locking us in a secluded place. It's a win win for me if you know what I mean.

Melodic beeping caught my attention and so I flicked on the lights.

"Holy macaroni!" I clapped my hands to my mouth to keep myself from making anymore noise. I had stumbled into Ryou's room. Seeing him hooked up to so many tubes made me nauseous. He was wrapped in so many bandages and he was _so _pale.

You know I've never had a friend hurt so badly they landed in the hospital let alone a coma. I inched closer to view Ryou better while ordering myself not to gag- but I was never good at handling gruesome scenes. My sharp eyes spied the Millennium Ring resting atop Ryou's bared bandaged chest. I glowered at the thing, thinking that it couldn't possibly be good for a speedy recovery. I reach out and made to remove it.

Things didn't go exactly as I thought they would.

You know when Bakura stupidly took my Millennium Item and became a human firework? Well I wish that was all that happened when I picked up his Millennium Item. Because this is ten times worse.

I received a little shock lifting it up, but it wasn't until I was actually holding it in my hand that **it** happened.

A loud cracking noise, like when you break wood or snap a pencil in half, sounded off. Oh if only the triangle part could have just fallen out- then I could just superglue it back together. But no, that's no bad enough for me.

A big fat, silvery white, tree branch like scar has magically split down the side of the triangle, going straight through the eye of horus.

I squeaked in terror and promptly dropped the Ring onto the floor where the crack became even bigger. OMG FML! Bakura is going to kill me. Not try and banish me to the shadow realm, but actually physically kill me. Ryou might even help. He's going to stab me in my sleep and laugh manically while doing so. Oh my god am I screwed.

I continued panicking, thinking of the many ways Bakura was going kill me, while trying to figure out where to hide the Ring so nobody would ever know what happened. Hopefully with the Ring scarred, Bakura was trapped inside FOREVER. But my luck isn't that nice. He's going to find a way to kill me. Maybe he won't notice?

I tucked the Ring into the mini refrigerator and then got the hell out, running like the wind until I ended up smacking head first into someone. We both toppled down, the other person being so kind as to cushion my fall. I opened my eyes to see who was the unlucky victim. Purple eyes stared at me.

Of course I'd run into Yami…now…when I'm a jittery mess.

I jumped off him, muttering 'sorry' over and over and blushing redder than Slifer the Sky Dragon. Gosh who up there hates me? Now I get Yami? After I've successfully not managed to get him this entire afternoon.

"Allie" Tea started.

I sent her a nasty glare- she knows exactly what she did that little actress. Right well I had Yami now. No one was going to intervene. Turning to Tea, I said bluntly, "Borrowing. And no, you're not getting him back." And with that, I forcibly pulled the King of Games away from the cheerleader. I had to take him where there was no chance of someone interrupting us for whatever reasons the universe could think of.

And what was my grand spontaneous idea? The roof. Trust me it's better than the closet and the bathroom idea combined. Unfortunately my determination left me as soon as we made it to the upper deck. I became flustered and unable to turn around.

I bit my lip and stepped harshly on my bare foot. I had something important to say and I wasn't going to let those mildly crazy people down.

"Yami," You can do it, Allie, I told myself. I took a deep breath and swung around, looking him dead in the eye, "I was told to tell you by some…umm…spirits that you need to make up your mind." I held out a hand, "Don't ask me what they mean, I'm just the messenger. Make up your mind."

Yami remained silent, but I could see he was mulling over those four words.

"I've also had some time to figure things out," I plowed on, "Not everything, but I think I'm ready to answer some of your questions." I said confidently.

Yami smiled at me and I knew that I could do this.

"Tell me about your Millennium Item," he said, reaching out and inspecting the tiny trinket.

I pulled the chain over my neck so Yami could look at it more carefully. "That was made by Slifer the Sky Dragon," I began slowly. Yami glanced up at me, "But it was corrupted by shadow magic and now it must be destroyed," At least that's what I've gathered so far based off Ishizu and Hatter's stories.

Yami furrowed his brows, "What do you mean."

"That is far enough Allison Grey."

* * *

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter more than the last one. See I really couldn't fit chapter 19 anywhere in this chapter. Anyways, I hope all of you have been well and are enjoying school. Apps are seriously killing me. So far I've managed to apply to one college, but I've got like six more and I have to apply by Dec 1- kill me now. I'm also struggling to keep all my grades up. My life is so stressed out. I hardly have any time for writing now a days. And that makes me sad.

On the brighter side, by the next chapter they should be in the virtual world. At least that's what I want. I am so happy I found a way to skip through al those duels. I don't have much to say.

Keep Voting People!

**Allie: 10**

**Tea: 5**

**Joey (lol): 4**

**Thanks to: **oh wait I updated so fast, no one had time to review XD

**REVIEW!**

**Seriously, with such a horrible senior year, please cheer me up :3**

**Enjoy because I don't know when you'll hear from me next.**

**ZTL**


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**Hey. Enjoy. I won't keep you waiting. Long A/N though.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Oh No You Didn't!

"That's far enough, Allison Grey!"

There was once a time when I thought Shadi was the good guy. I mean why wouldn't I? Aside from what I already know about him, he seemed like a really good guy. He helped me out when I first fell into this world, gave me my very own magical item, (unbeknownst to him, apparently Slifer is trapped inside and I have to deal with that) and essentially told me I've been summoned by Slifer to protect Yami from something. What, I don't know as Shadi has deliberately failed to mention anything useful.

'_You can't fall in love with the Pharaoh.'_

_'It must remain a secret.'_

_'No.'_

_'Now is not the time.'_

Blah blah blah.

And that was all in the span of three days.

Now I think of Shadi as a **know-it-all, useless, disloyal, bastard** with a big BALD head full of AIR! Because if he really knew something worthwhile, something that could potentially help Yami, you know, SAVE THE WORLD! then he would have said something by now. Because you don't just keep quiet about important shit! That's called being unproductive. And also it's very MEAN!

I saw surprise flit across Yami's handsome face; his amethyst eyes widening. Whether it was in recognition of Shadi's presence or because he felt betrayed, I couldn't tell- but I hoped for the former. It's not like I purposely lied (ugh, I cringe at that word) to him. I was ready to tell Yami everything! I was trying to do it right now. Why else would we be standing in the freezing cold in the dark? I'm not doing this for fun.

A crisp blast of wind howled loudly. Thank you mother nature, as if it wasn't cold enough already. Please blow me more.

"Allison Grey, you-"

A cold fury suddenly raged inside me. Like the time my teacher told me specifically not to study the calculus part because it wouldn't be on my final exam. And guess what? It was. I shouted the first thing that came to mind and whipped around, pointing dramatically, "INSUBORDINATION!"

Shadi attempted to say something but I was on a roll. And you don't stop a female when she's on a roll, especially me- I'll go wildebeest on your ass.

How was it possible that in three days, I've managed to get involved in basically everything that I shouldn't be? So many secrets! Shadi and Ishizu. Marik and Bakura! Hatter, Jaq and Alice! I'm not even supposed to be here, This is not supposed to be happening at all.

"Look here, wise guy, you did this!" I pulled the Millennium Heart into view, "You gave me this! What did you think I was going to do? Do I look like a passive person to you? Did you think I wasn't going to do anything? I'm not yours to control. Ever!"

And now I was shouting.

"And since when was it ever your job to tell me what I can and can't do?" I snapped, "Last time I checked, Slifer brought me here, not you! And he doesn't seem to have a problem with what I'm doing- it's only you! Tell me why that is?" I asked mockingly, putting a finger to my chin.

I turned to Yami with pleading eyes, trying to silently communicate that I wasn't a liar and that I never wanted to lie to him in the first place, "I'm sorry," that was all I could say in the heat of the moment. The ancient spirit seemed to be frozen, his mind slowly processing everything. It all just kind of exploded on him.

"And you know what Shadi, why is it even my job to-"

_**No!**_

I had just been about to say _destroy the Millennium Heart_ when a loud warped voice spoke. I fumbled mid speech, _Hatter?_ I asked carefully. I mentally frowned, _I'm sorry have you not just been listening to me? I don't keep secrets!_ Am I not speaking English? Do people need me to mime it out?

_**The spirit must not know**_**, **the voice growled- it didn't sound human.

For a split second, an image of something massive flashed in front of me. All I saw was giant pointy teeth and narrowed eyes blazing. I recovered instantly and collected my thoughts, _I don't lie_, I hissed with frustration.

And then Hatter's secret smile grinned at me, a finger pressed to his lips.

_**You can reveal all to the Pharaoh. But do not trust that spirit.**_

I hesitated, uneasiness stirring restlessly in the pit of my stomach. But I shrugged it off. I stared Shadi down and decided indeed Hatter was right. Shadi couldn't be trusted. He'd probably do something drastic and purposely not break the Heart in order to say that he was helping Yami. No, I would finish that task myself. Yami could probably help me. But not Shadi.

Remembering that I was in a fiery argument, I continued on, bluntly changing tactics, "I'm…I'm not the kind of person to keep secrets- especially from my friends!" Why is this so hard to understand? "I feel dirty and horrible. It's just not in my nature, " I was calming down, but I could still feel the anger festering inside me, hissing restlessly "I refuse to hide anything from Yami. If you say that Slifer brought me here to protect him, I'm going to do it my way and not yours!"

Shadi remained stone faced, his ice blue orbs narrowed.

But I wasn't going to back down. I returned his cold gaze, matching it and then intensifying it. He wasn't going to say anything? No explanation? Maybe give an apology? Admit something? Any sign that he cared…at all?

And then what happened next, will haunt me for the rest of my life. Just when I thought the storm was over and I had said what needed to be said, there was more. Words were said that I will never be able to take back. It's horrible to admit, but I meant everything I said. I wish it hadn't been Yami who had been caught in the cross fire. No one was supposed to know. Even I didn't know I felt that way. It all just came out. I'm not an angry person. I don't know where that anger and rage came from. It was as though something inside of me had been unlocked. Something I didn't know existed. And there was no way to stopping it.

"Do you think," I spoke in a trembling voice, "I want to be here? Stuck in this world for who knows how long?"

The hurt Yami expressed. The pain I caused. It is something I have to live with.

"Do you think I WANT to be HERE?" I yelled, glaring angrily at Shadi. "Do you think I like knowing that I'm STUCK HERE?"

Still Shadi said nothing, only infuriating me more.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!" I exploded, "I want to go home! My parents are probably freaking out! I left Sam all by himself at home. He could be dead right now. I need to go home!" I screamed. My legs could barely hold me up, they were shaking so badly. My heart was pounding and chills kept running up my spine. I didn't dare turn around to face Yami. I felt scared, a bit nauseated, but still rage bubbled inside me.

I wobbled, swaying back- expecting to fall or collapse, I braced myself. Instead, a pair of warm hands pressed themselves against my back, fingers gently gripping my shoulders. I relaxed into the light embrace, catching my breath. The strength to keep myself standing was gone and the tempest within me was dying slowly.

"Shadi," Yami's deep voice rumbled against my back and I felt safe- the anger melted away with just one touch. I let my head rest against his chest, while letting Yami hold me up as I collapsed pathetically against him, "What is the meaning of this?" he asked. I glanced up to see Yami with a slight look of anger directed at the guardian of the tombs.

"Please," I pleaded quietly, closing my eyes "Please, let me go home." I begged, "I can't do this anymore," I drifted my gaze to meet Shadi's electric blue one.

"No-"

Something inside me literally snapped.

Everything went pitch black. Voices echoed loudly in my head. Laughter. Screaming. Crying. I saw flashes of scenes I didn't recognize. Fire. Destruction. Death. The scenes shifted rapidly. A girl walking towards darkness. People running. An empty throne room. Again that inhuman thing appeared, only lingering for a second or two. I understood nothing of what I saw. And then everything became still. I was alone. After a few blinks, I was standing in front of Shadi, the world was righted.

I couldn't understand why Shadi was staring at me so coldly until I turned around.

"You did this," he explained calmly.

Laying a couple of feet away was an unconscious King of Games. He looked as though he had just had a run in with a tornado. I rushed over to his side, terror stricken. I brushed his blonde bangs out of the way and leaned over to listen for signs of breathing. Good, Yami wasn't dead.

I glared hatefully at Shadi, "What do you mean I did this?" I questioned carefully.

Shadi (at last!) descended to the deck and walked over. Our eyes never strayed from each other, "You lost control and let your emotions go,"

His words weren't making any sense to me. "What do you mean I did this? I couldn't…it's not…how?…no," I shook my head determinedly. My thoughts became jumbled and I managed not to be able to produce a coherent sentence. I couldn't have done this. I didn't. I glanced down at Yami. No, I didn't do this. I couldn't!

"Calm down," Shadi ordered. He extended a hand and a faint light aura surrounded Yami. As he concentrated on the Pharaoh, he spoke, "You must always keep your emotions in check. The Millennium Heart reacts to strong emotions and amplifies that present feeling. That current feeling will overwhelm the wearer regardless of whether it is light or dark and whether or not the emotion belongs to the wearer. It can, in rare instances, influence and overwhelm the emotions of those around you, should the current feeling be powerful enough. "

I was taken aback, "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" I demanded, outraged. I felt a slight twinge in my chest and I forced myself not to lose my temper.

Shadi gazed at me coldly, "You have nobody to blame but yourself, Allison Grey. Do not try to make excuses,"

But it wasn't…I didn't mean to…he should have… "Take it back," I said with disgust, attempting to remove the magical item from my person, "This is not for me,"

"No, it is not as simple as that," Shadi stated.

Stop telling me no!

"Slifer selected you-"

He also picked Tea too, I wanted to add.

"-You must take responsibility for the Millennium Heart. It belongs to you and only you," Shadi continued, his face expressions never betrayed his thoughts, "Allision Grey, as you have now learned, your role in this world is serious. You cannot ignore it anymore," he warned. Shadi must have sensed my rising panic, "But do not fear, Allison Grey, there are counter measure to prevent…this unfortunate happening," he chose his words carefully.

Was that compassion in his voice? But there was no time to wonder if the stoic guardian had expressed any emotion. "What?" I asked with defeat.

"All humans have light and dark within them; body and mind," the turban wearing man started, "In order for you to maintain control over the Millennium Heart, your light must either stay perfectly balanced with your dark or your light must outweigh the darkness within you," Shadi reached inside his robes and withdrew something small. He held out his hand to reveal a stone colored feather.

I raised a brow, "And this is…"

"A replica of the feather of Ma'at," Shadi said, "It will reflect your inner balance of light and dark. The whiter the feather is the stronger your light while the darker the feather becomes the stronger your darkness. Gray represents a neutral balance. It is yours to keep,"

I slowly reached out, ready to accept the generous offer.

_**He lies**__._

_Jaq_? I questioned. It didn't sound like the lazy oaf I had previously met. I mentally frowned, _ What do you mean? _

_**He withholds the real truth, just like before**_the voice answered. An image of Jaq popped into my head. Quickly I found myself back in the empty throne room with Jaq and Hatter standing err hovering in front of me. Malice was no where to be seen.

"Allie," Jaq spoke first, "Don't trust Shadi."

Hatter nodded merrily, pulling a tea cup out of thin air. He sat cross legged and took a swig from his cup as he watched Jaq reveal the truth.

"The feather of Ma'at, although what Shadi says is true, does more than show your inner balance," Jaq explained urgently, gripping my shoulders and forcing eye contact, "The feather of Ma'at doesn't just help you, it is a way for Shadi to see into your soul. He can see your memories. He will always know how you feel," Jaw seemed to be hinting at something as he said this, "-He will know about us. And most importantly, the feather of Ma'at allows him to extend minor control of your emotions. Don't do it."

"Allie, you must tell Shadi that you do not need his help. You can keep control over your own emotions," Hatter added.

Jaq agreed, "And besides, we'll keep a better eye on you and let you know if there are internal disturbances."

All this was said in a mere second or two, but surprisingly I managed to catch everything. There was no time to reply. After blinking once, my surroundings returned back to normal.

I pulled my hand back at last minute, "Thanks Shadi," I said coolly, "But I can't accept your help," I cast a look down onto Yami, his head rested peacefully on my lap while a serene expression blanketed his handsome features. I looked back at Shadi, "I know I can't take back what I did and I know that I will have to live the rest of my life knowing I hurt an important friend. But," I said sharply, "in order to make up for my stupidity, I need to keep control on my own," there that should be a satisfying, non-questionable, answer. I was actually quire pleased at my fast thinking skills. I didn't trust Shadi farther than I could throw him.

It looked as though Shadi was going to insist I keep the feather, but he held his words back. Slowly he retraced his hand and pocketed the feather. "Very well," he said curtly.

"Also," I voiced loudly, "I'm going to tell Yami everything once he wakes up," I sent a challengingly look towards Shadi, daring him to say no, "I won't keep any secrets, not from him."

Well that's a lie, a little voice inside me laughed, you're obviously not going to tell your precious Yami that you're a walking time bomb- he wouldn't think so fondly of you anymore. The voice chuckled, not that he'll like you once he awakes. He'll hate you.

I extinguished the voice and waited for Shadi's reply.

The spirit did not look pleased, "Very well," he said again, "But know this Allison Grey, you will have to face the consequences of your actions."

"I'm ready," I shot back.

Shadi turned his back, "Hn. Pass a message to the Pharaoh- all millennium items have gathered."

And with that the spirit vanished into the clouds.

**-X-**

I honestly wish things hadn't gone the way they did. That was nothing like I had planned. In my head everything had gone smoothly with no interruptions and Yami and I were still on good terms. Now I don't know what's going to happen. I'm scared and nervous and would like very much to run away. It's hard accepting what I've done. And the worst part is I regret that I said aloud my darkest thoughts, but I don't feel guilty about what was said. It's all true and I meant everything.

The air has been cleared. I feel light. It's easier to breathe. My head doesn't hurt. I don't feel so bad about myself. It's just heinously unfortunate Yami had to be around to hear it. Anyone else would have been better- preferably Kaiba, Bakura or Malik. But on some level I am happy.

Yami rested peacefully on the makeshift pillow I had constructed with my olive hoodie. Thankfully the air was still and I didn't have to endure the freezing cold. I waited patiently, enjoying the night view, my arms wrapped tightly around my legs. Every few minutes I would brush hair out of Yami's face. I think my fangirl love for him died. If only _that_ hadn't happened, I could properly enjoy my alone time with Yami.

What would he think of me? I dreaded knowing. What would- oh god, what would Yugi think of me? Sweet, kind, little Yugi? I completely forgot about him. Crude! Yugi couldn't possible treat me kindly anymore. I hurt Yami! He's going to hate me too.

A grunt followed by subtle stirring alerted me to Yami's awakening. My heart raced as I watched amethyst orbs flutter open. They blinked, wandered the night sky and then shifted onto me. I offered a weak smile, trying my best to not let my emotions betray my thoughts. Before I flung myself into full on apology times a million, I would wait for Yami to become a bit more conscious.

"Allie?" he muttered softly, struggling to prop himself up.

I aided him in settling himself against the wall, "Hey," I replied back, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Yami took in more of the scenery before speaking, "That was…" he said, searching for the right words, "…interesting to say the least," Yami mused, sending me a jaded smile. He cast a quick glance at me, "I didn't know you felt that way. I'm sorry-"

He's apologizing to me? "Yami no!" I burst out, "Don't apologize to me. It's me who needs to apologize. I'm so sorry that you got hurt. So, so sorry," I didn't know what else to say. Was there anything I could ever do to make up for it? "It's all my fault. I'm sorry." I smashed my forehead to the floor and waited for Yami to speak. My body shook in anticipation and fear. I wanted to cry. But that would truly be the lowest of low to cry, now.

What would he say? Waiting was hard. Part of me wanted him to tell me it wasn't my fault, but the other part knew that was wrong. I did this and now I have to live with it.

"A lot was said," Yami acknowledged, nodding to himself, "I need some time to think over what has happened,"

Don't cry! I sternly told myself. I picked myself up and nodded back numbly, "Of course," I said in a forced calm voice, although I could hear it cracking, "I'll let you and Yugi," I added quickly, "-be. If you still want to talk, I'll be in my room," I mumbled quietly. I turned to leave, pausing by the elevator, "Yami,"

Yami looked upwards.

"I'm really sorry. I know there is nothing I can ever do or say to undo what happened, but I'm sorry," I said. I didn't wait for a reply- or if there was any. I walked forward and closed the door.

**-X-**

Everyone seemed to be asleep when I arrived back downstairs- meaning I wasn't going to be interrogated by annoying, clingy Tea or bothered by Joey about the whereabouts of Yami. I guess they just pieced things together or assumed something and had the sense not to intrude. I settled myself back into my tiny room, plopping myself down on the comfy chair. I had raided the fridge as soon as I got in, eating all the mini snacks provided.

Was Yami going to come talk to me? Or was Yami going to spill to his friends what happened? These two questions invaded my mind and I found myself asking over and over. Staring at the clock didn't help calm my nerves. I hadn't felt this anxious about waiting since the time Sam was born and I was stuck in the waiting room…waiting.

I tried to occupy myself with other things, like playing the guessing games with my cards. I failed epically, only managing to guess, oh say…five cards: Magician's Valkyria, Sunlight Unicorn, Chaos Command Magician, Monster Reborn and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. I suck.

The Heart laid innocently next to my deck and every now and then I sent it very dirty looks. Everything had become so complicated. An item that I originally thought did absolutely nothing- turns out to actually do something important. Seriously, just my luck. I mean why? Why? Too much responsibility. I'm barely capable of being a good older sister to Sam and now I have this. Thanks. And I know I'm complaining like a little child but it's not like there's anyone around to hear me. And as I have just learned, I can't keep my emotions bottled up.

"Okay, round two," I spoke aloud, taking my deck and slapping cards down onto the table. Heart of the cards, you will work for me.

**-X-**

Two more rounds of epically failing and I decided to call it night. I had kept glancing at my door throughout my games, but no ancient Pharaoh.

I was crushed. It was like a sign of rejection. I hadn't expected him to be okay with it all. But no appearance from Yami made it all real.

I propped myself up, tilting my head to face the window. The moon sparkled bright and rested my head against the icy window pane, letting the cold numb me over. I rested my eyes for a bit with the intention of only sleeping a bit and then waiting the rest of the night for Yami. But I ended up drifting off to sleep.

What would come of tomorrow? I dreaded to know.

* * *

My life:

Well it's been a very long time. I was actually very surprised to realize that it's already March, nearly April. I updated in November. LONG TIME. Yeah I know. Trust me I know. You've no idea how much it bugged me that I hadn't updated in forever!

First off I got stuck (as usual) on how to open the next chapter. I had complex scenes that I had to write out and I just wasn't sure how to deliver them. It wasn't until last week that the opening that you read, hit me. And since then I have been working nonstop on this chapter. I intended when I took my break to only take a small break from writing this story, but that break turned into writer's block. It was first a break and then I just got plain stuck. Not fun. I shouldn't have taken a break.

We can also contribute my 'writer's block' to senior year. It was pretty crappy, but then I managed to turn everything around and everything has just been going great, since winter vacation. Senior year has been filled with lots of handwork, annoyingly long essays to write and lots of studying. Tests, tests, quizzes, projects, presentations. That was pretty much my life since I last updated. And don't get me started on AP Chinese. I hate it. Things only just got better recently because senior year is drawing to a close.

Another contribution would be that I had a mid life crisis. After realizing how long it had been since I had updated, I started to question myself as a writer. Did I want to be a writer? Was that what I wanted to do with my life? Or did I want to moonlight as a writer? Not have it as my professional occupation and only write when I had spare time. Because really all I have are my works for FF (I've been writing for four years now). I've known since 9th grade I wanted to be a writer and so it was terrifying having a lack of faith. So I took a long break from FF to think and to decide. Because I only applied to liberal arts colleges. I was kind of freaking out. **MAJOR FREAKING! **So I took time to work on my own works. I've had things planned out for a while, but I never started any of them. So yeah, I've been writing (not a lot though, when I could spare a moment) my own works for awhile.

Also I've been improving my diction and syntax and trying to advance my vocabulary thanks to AP Lang. I at first didn't like that class, but it has definitely grown on me.

The last thing that kept me away from the computer is I just lost the need to be around it. I mean, I'd have it open, but I wouldn't do anything. I've stopped being obsessed with having the need to constantly have my computer around. I stopped trying to watch my tv shows online. Instead I've been working on exercising, counting calories and more exercising. I will admit I was over weight- WAS. I'm proud to say that I've lost 13+ pounds. I'm getting ready for spring break and coming back to America for summer and college. I'd just get home, eat, work out and then fall asleep.

So moving on. **I GOT INTO COLLEGE! **Oh my god you have no idea how happy, relieved I was. No more stress of grades. The pressure is off. I applied early action (always apply early action for any of your colleges! That is my advice) to Bard and heard back in December 20th. It saved me money from applying to the rest of my schools, although I had just applied to Bennington the day before. But I got into Bennington as well, with a scholarship- but I think I'm still going to attend Bard. It's bigger and closer to NYC- I was looking forward to being able to commute to Manhattan.

Spring break is this Thursday. I'm going to Japan. FINALLY! It's my graduation present. Me and my friend. Going to shop and mack on some truly gorgeous boys.

Anyways, I've ranted and thank you for listening. Now I can finally talk about this chapter.

First off, I made a live journal just for this story. The link is on my profile. I haven't used it yet, but there is a pic of Allie up there for those of you interested to see who she is. Now that everyone knows this account exists, I will start to update it. Nothing major just statuses on how the story is coming along. I was going to wait until the very end of this story to put a picture of Allie, but then I realized that might take FOREVER.

Did any of you see it being Shadi? I was surprised that people thought it was Marik- lol but I knew it was Shadi so it was obvious to me. Hmm as you can see this chapter had a lot going on. Besides Allie flipping shit and losing it, did any of you catch any hints (there are several) that I left? Really analyze what was said and maybe try reading in between the lines to catch the hints. You do need to think for a bit about them. They are for future events. Let's see how many you caught on to ;) I had trouble writing out Allie's emotions and her melt down. I tried writing from Yami POV and 3rd POV, but it was all a fail.

This chapter is interesting because it explores other sides to Allie. Like I said in the beginning, Allie's the kind of go with the flow kind of girl, but she does have a serious side. I thought in the beginning, when I started this, Allie would be happy and funny all the time, but my writing has clearly objected to that.

Questions for you to think about: Hmm is Shadi the bad guy? What's Yami going to say? Is everyone going to find out now? What's Allie going to do?

My god I hope I haven't lost any of you guys during my MIA period.

**XOXO:**

**Dontgotaclue**- hope you still like Allie, even after this. Senior Year is coming to end and I'm looking very forward to graduating. The stress has taken its toll on me.

**Aurineko- **Were you surprised? I thought Shadi was the obvious choice, but lol you came up with Marik xp Actually I then thought of Ishizu, but chose Shadi instead.

**candylover- **Tea has an interesting role, but it won't be revealed until the Dartz arc. There was some fluff in this chapter unfortunately the situation was too grave for Allie to enjoy it. More fluff to come once they get to the cyber world.

**Lindi-chan- **College applications suck. Ha it's good you can relate to Allie, it shows that she's more real than fictional. I want people to be able to relate to her. So thanks.

**ImmortalAngel92 **

**koolkatx- **school is going good. I hate AP Chinese. I understand nothing of what is being said in class and every time I take a test, I can't get higher than a C. It's my worst class.

**Airheadninja**- Woot we're almost done! I'm actually looking very forward to graduating as I think college will be more fun because people won't be idiots and caught up with petty drama.

**EgyptianSoul88- **Haha I know that you love Bakura and I had to keep that guy around somehow. Don't worry, you'll love what I'm going to do to Bakura in the next two chapters. Keep you eyes open for the clues I drop in the next chapter.

**Anonymous Lizard**- the voting is for who's going to end up Pharoah's Kinght. Tea or Allie. Although I know, I'm interested to see what you guys think.

**yyh-ygo-fma** haha I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Drama. Did you think it was going to be Shadi?

**LadyGrimR**

**Suicide-sama **there's a link on my profile to a live journal account dedicated to this story. The profile pic of that account is basically Allie. Just a reminder, Allie has layered, somewhat jagged hazel hair with a layered side fringe and brown eyes. Currently she is wearing a white tank top with a design on the back, a pair of dark jean shorts and an olive green hoodie. She is also wearing wedges, but I am somehow going to get rid of those shoes ;)

**ScarletBlackberry- **thanks, I hope you found this chapter just as unique and the plot in general still well written. I'm glad everyone is coming off right, I really hate when I make people ooh.

**TexasDreamer01 **

**I-am-a-kittyMEOW**

**GirXzimXfanatic**

**Invader Ivy**

**shells210**

**Review (if you guys are still around)**

**Thanks for waiting.  
**

**If anyone has good music recommendations, I'm all ears. I need more music to listen to.**

**ZTL**

**Tuesday March 27th 2012. 3:20 AM- My dog just died. 13 years I had him.**

**Skippy RIP**

**I will always love you forever. You were my first dog. May you enjoy doggy heaven and tonight I will look for you in the night sky and see you shining brightly.  
**


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

Of Course There's More, There's Always More.

Kaiba's glaring at me. It's kind of funny. Now I know that's his default face expression, as he is incapable of displaying anything else, so I am going to call it his sexy glare. It is very important to be able to distinguish each of the Kaiba glares- he even has the Yugi glare. I don't think he appreciates the fact that I'm returning his oh so lovely endearing glares with flirtatious silly faces.

Just knowing that the mighty Seto Kaiba is taking the time to glare at me- I must be important. Oh the things I could think of that I did to deserve the Kaiba sexy glare. Breathe. Exist. Share the same air. Wear green. The list goes on.

"NOMNOMNOMNOMMMPFFNOMNOMNOM…NOMNOMN-"

Kaiba paused in his glaring to send Joey a dirty look. I chuckled in amusement at Kaiba's obvious discomfort. But Joey has the right idea- I grabbed my fork and began demolishing the mountain high pile of waffles in front of me. I received a Kaiba sexy glare as he turned his gaze towards me. I only offered him a gross waffle filled grin while shrugging my shoulders. He can judge me all he wants- it's not going to stop me from pigging out.

Because I've learned that in the four days I've been here, people just don't seem to eat! I guess that's how everyone stays so unbelievable thin. Duel. Run around. More dueling. Some sleep, sort of. And back to dueling. I don't think anyone even uses the bathroom…Anyways when there is food, I will eat like a beast. Deal with it. I mean really, have you seen Kaiba's waist? Very jealous and somewhat extremely pissed off.

"Joey, for crying out loud- CHEW!" Tea shouted, a vein largely pulsing unattractively on her forehead.

'Tea, for crying out loud- SHUT UP! Stop mothering everyone,' I thought darkly, throwing the busty brunette a glare. Sitting there all happy with Yugi talking to you- I hate you bitch. Yami definitely said something to Tea because she keeps sending me subtle looks and my female intuition is picking up the vibes- not that I care what she thinks. I pretend not to notice them. I'm way too involved in the romantic staring contest Kaiba has for some unknown reason decided to engage me in. I'm winning by the way.

But more importantly what piece of glass did Kaiba sit on this morning? In fact why is Kaiba even here? I know I'm fabulous, but… "Shouldn't you be isolating yourself in your palace _far_ away from us lowly commoners?" I questioned sarcastically. Is the world ending? Clearly something is up. Something that I want to find out since it apparently involves me- although Kaiba does like glaring at everything…

"Hn."

"What's up bro?" I asked, leaning over and sending him a smug grin.

Glare.

"Not enough people bowing down to you?" I joked.

Glare.

"Need more laxatives?"

Glare.

"Realize that I was right and that duel disks _do_ need a clock function?"

Glare.

"Lose to Yugi…again?"

GLARE!

Allie: 1 Kaiba: 0

I laughed. Kaiba really needs to get a better sense of humor. His is just terrible. But the laughter faded as I trailed my gaze over to the King of Games. I'm still in the dog house- hence why I am sitting at the far end of the table…opposite Kaiba. Yami nor Yugi have spoken a word to me since last night- not even a hello this morning. I made eye contact with Yugi once, and he quickly looked away awkwardly. So I have been reduced to being in exile- I'm sure Tea had something to do with it, that no good-

"Grey, explain your actions last night." Kaiba's curt voice broke my thoughts.

I frowned unsure of what Kaiba was referring to, but then grinned, "What? You mean when I cornered you last night and jumped you hun?" I joked. I honestly have no idea what Kaiba is blabbering about, but I'll play along-

"YOU DID WHAT WITH HIM?" And suddenly Joey has magically hearing. Great. The blonde sent us both horrified looks while simultaneously choking on his food.

All eyes turned to us.

Thanks Joey. Just what I didn't want. I was trying to be a wallflower, you know, keep a low profile until things smoothed out between Yami and I.

"It's a joke Joey," I deadpanned, heat rising to my face.

Kaiba was not amused, "Use that thing you call a brain, god forbid you have one, and _try_ and think realistically once in a while, Wheeler. I have better taste than Grey," he sneered.

I sent Kaiba one of my coldest Allie glares. "You flatter yourself too much _darling_, if you think I would be interested in you," I shot back. My cold demeanor broke as soon as I caught Yugi looking at me. I looked away and let my temper fizzle out- stabbing the blueberries with extreme force.

Joey returned to his food, satisfied with our answers. And conversation went back to normal with everyone focusing their attention back on each other rather than us. I raised a brow at Kaiba, "You were saying?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Kaiba hissed, folding his arms.

I really don't. Did my fangirl subconsciously pin him down and sexually assault him when I wasn't paying attention? If so, I'm disappointed it went after Kaiba first. I chuckled nervously, "I know you think the world revolves around you, but I really don't know what it is you are referring to," I stated bluntly. I don't have time to worry about Kaiba's petty problems when I'm wrapped up in my own.

The CEO scowled, "Don't play dumb, Grey." he said.

"I hate to disappoint you, because I know you enjoy mocking my flaws," I drawled, "But I legit don't know what you're talking about," I eyed Kaiba suspiciously, both us staring each other down. You know how you get that dreading feeling in the pit of your stomach when someone calls you out on something and then you get the sinking feeling and you know they know about something no one was supposed to know- yeah I don't have that feeling. I truly don't think Kaiba is referring to Yami and I- though it did cross my mind. Kaiba doesn't believe in magic.

Kaiba's face remained unchanged, although I'm not one hundred percent since Kaiba unable to express anything else other than his must-defeat-Yugi face.

"Last night you-" Kaiba started.

"Hey AG!" Joey interrupted, completely oblivious to Kaiba.

"YES?" I replied back with equal enthusiasm, beaming at the blonde. I sent Kaiba a half-assed apologetic look before turning my full attention onto Joey.

Don't look at Yugi. Don't look at Yugi. Don't- aww damn, I looked. I was trying very hard to place my full attention onto Joey, but his words were wasted on me they were going through one ear and out the other. Dammit why does Joey have to be blonde? It would so much easier to not think about Yugi if Joey wasn't blonde. Curses. Oh hey look, Tea's giving me the bitch glare. Whoops she caught me staring. Ha, she can go suck it.

"What's up Jo?" I asked after returning Tea's bitch glare with a ha-you-can-go-and-suck-it smirk. Although I probably shouldn't be engaging with her since it definitely would not put me back in Yugi's good graces.

"Where'd ya disappear to last night?"

Thanks Joey. Thanks. You couldn't talk about something like food? I mentally sent Joey a dirty look. How do I explain without lying? "I was…uh up on the deck outside." I finally said. Not lying, just not saying everything. Perfectly acceptable. "Why?"

Joey shrugged, "Nah, no reason. Just don't want ya catching Kaiba's anti-socialness, ya know?"

Kaiba snorted at that comment, "Please Wheeler," he grunted in a smug tone.

As the verbal battle begun between Joey and Kaiba, I let myself stare openly at Yugi. I didn't do it in the obvious creeper fangirl stalker way, but my gaze was just directed in his direction. I was trying more to look intensely at the potted plant in the corner behind him. That plan didn't even two seconds as I found myself staring like a dumbass straight at him. Way to go me. Epic fail. But honestly- WHY WON'T HE TALK TO ME? I want to cry.

"Joey, calm down!" Tea grabbed the blonde by the ear and yanked him back into his seat.

I glared darkly as I grabbed my glass to keep my mouth occupied. The brunette was harshly lecturing Joey. Strings of curses flowed rapidly in my head as I thought about ways to kill- err be rid of her annoying presence. Unfortunately too many witnesses-

"GREY!" a loud voice yelled my name.

Huh? Why is everyone staring at me…Joey, Tristan and Duke were laughing loudly while the rest gave me questioning looks- except for Kaiba. Kaiba, the one who was currently giving me the death glare times infinity. He was standing, his hair dripping wet. And then I realized that the water in my glass was gone.

I gave my right arm a bizarre stare. Did I just do what I think I just- "Oh snap Kaiba- I'm so sorry!" Unfortunately my credibility went down the toilet as I started to crack up along with the three stooges. But inwardly I was freaking out. My hand just flailed on its own. I didn't even notice. But damn, why couldn't it have gone to Tea?

"I'm sorry!" I called out as Kaiba stalked away. Aw man I just ruined my chances of being friends with the CEO. Boo.

Crap crap crap.

"Good one, Ag," Joey chuckled, wiping stray tears away. "Ya should have seen Kaiba's face."

"Huh, yeah…" I replied. It would have been funnier if I had actually meant to do that. Must be nerves…and Tea. Well it is very nice to know that my body is just going to randomly spaz out on its own. I'm such a freak.

And oh greet Yugi's looking at me and he's not laughing. I can't take this.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announced, getting up before anyone could stop me. I quickly left and headed back to my room where I knew no one would bother me. I wish I had my cello. Playing it helps me to take my mind off things. I don't have to think, my fingers just move on their own.

**-X-**

My arm feels funny. Maybe I've been paying extra attention since the incident this morning and because I have nothing else to think about, I've read too much into- but my arm feels funny. It tingles spontaneously like it's fallen asleep. And when I try and do something, say…move it, there's a delay time. Not like a huge gap, a fraction of a second. But I notice. It doesn't feel like my arm!

What's happening to the world? Why is down up and up down?

I think I'm losing it, that's the only rational explanation. This thing between Yami and I, it's taking its toll on me. I've spent the last three hours in my room, shuffling my deck repeatedly in an OCD manner while sitting cross-legged and staring out of the window. Joey, at one point, came in to invite me to join some group activity, but the thought of having to be in the same room as Yugi and not be able to talk to him, stressed me out. I just pretended to be asleep.

I need to fix things between Yami and I. Screw waiting. It's the only way I'm going to be able to feel like I'm not slowly losing my mind. Besides being terrified of accidentally causing another accident, we all know what happens when someone loses it here. They turn evil…and then try and take over the world. Ha, that's not going to be me.

But first I need air…and water. I'm feeling very claustrophobic.

I tiptoed down the halls, cautiously poking my head around the corners so as not to run into anyone. It worked up until I actually got to the dining hall where Tea and Yami happened to be. Note: not Yugi, Yami. Never in my life have I wanted to physically harm someone as much as Tea.

I know it's wrong to eavesdrop. And I don't think it'll do me any good to listen to them- especially if I'm caught. I started to turn away but...

"…you've been spacing out all day," Tea's voice said.

"I have a lot on my mind," Yami replied.

"Is it something you want to talk about? I don't know if I can help you…" Tea trailed off as though leaving an opening for Yami to begin speaking.

No you can't, bitch, I thought darkly. But wait, does this mean Yami didn't say anything? I missed Yami's response and scolded myself for not paying close attention. But I did catch Tea's and my insides boiled.

"It has something to do with Allie?"

There was a long silence before Yami spoke, "How did you know?"

Chuckling, "Call it a female intuition, Pharaoh. Besides last night you two disappeared for a long time."

Jealous much? I secretly grinned to myself. My own female intuition picked up on the real meaning of Tea's words. The bitch was worried that something happened romantically between us. I wish, but I'll settle for Tea being driven insane by her own speculations. I doubt she suspects anything near the truth.

"Yes," Yami began, "Allie is not what I expected her to be. She's different,"

Yes be vague! Be very very vague! Completely make Tea misunderstand your words! I cheered gleefully as Yami continued to mislead Tea.

"It wasn't a coincident that Joey befriended her."

I bet Tea wants to kill Joey as much as I want to kill her.

"What do you mean?" Tea questioned, her voice dripping with hidden venom. And if I was in her shoes and Yami was talking about her like that, I would be pissed too. But I'm not, so there. I think after this conversation, I'm going to be pretty much dead to Tea.

"**Our final destination is in sight. Stand by for descent on Kaiba Corp Island for the conclusion of the Battle City Finals.**"

My heart is beating very fast and I can feel my face turning red. I know Yami didn't have any ulterior meaning to what he said, but his words make me happy. And it is extremely great to know that he doesn't hate me- at least that is what was implied. BUT it's even better to know that he didn't blab to Tea. I'm sure Tea tried to weasel it out of him, but Yami didn't tell her squat. I want to fling myself onto him. This gives me hope.

I raced back to my room so as not to be caught. It was as I was rounding the last corner that I went smashing into the wall some feet ahead. I crashed painfully face first into it before stumbling backwards and landing on my butt. Now I know you'd like to blame my above average clumsiness, but I swear it wasn't me.

"Ag you okay?" a brooklyn accented voice called out.

I looked around to see Joey exiting his room. "Ow," I mumbled, slowly picking myself up. "Yeah," I told him weakly.

A strange noise sounded off loudly and I found myself falling towards another wall. Contact with the wall was softened as Joey chivalrously threw himself between it and me and so I bumped into him. He held me in a protective manner as a dark expression appeared on his face.

"What's going on?" I wondered aloud.

"I don't know, but we should go find out. C'mon, Ag!" Joey said, grabbing my hand and leading me down the hall. We lost our balance several times more but luckily for me, Joey softened my landing every time. Serenity, Duke and Tristan joined us as we went to go find Kaiba. We found him in the control room along with Yugi and Tea.

"Hey, what's with the turbulence?" Joey demanded, glaring at Kaiba.

Before any answers could be explained the blimp started violently shaking before quickly descending.

"Our situation is worsening!"

I'm going to say it because I know everyone is thinking it. Fuck.

"We're losing altitude rapidly!"

You know there are just some things you don't need to say aloud. Giving a play by play of what is going on is really unnecessary. I think we all get what's going on without you having to say anything. Thanks though.

Kaiba growled, glaring at one of his men, "I can see that you buffoon," he stated coldly, picking himself up.

We are so fucked.

I tried to tune out the pointless commenting while also trying not to puke. I'm not good with turbulence.

"Oh god," I moaned, clutching my stomach, "I think I'm going to hurl."

"Grey if you even think about retching in my aircraft-" Kaiba snapped, but fell forward before he could finish as the blimp lurched again.

I stayed down, not bothering to stand up because I'd only fall back down and tried to take deep breaths. Yeah I really didn't want to hurl in front of everybody. I felt a hand rub my back and words of worry attempted to sooth me. I kept my eyes shut and prayed that the aircraft would stop moving.

"_Greetings duelists. There's nothing wrong with your aircraft. I'm in control now._" a new voice announced in a vaguely sounding british accent.

"Identify yourself," Kaiba snarled.

I feebly opened my eyes, noting Serenity crouched down beside me with her arms around my shoulders, and looked up at the main screen to see a kid with green hair and brown eyes. And then I remembered: the virtual world. Crap. Damn. Shit.

"We need to get out-" I couldn't finish my sentence as a wave of nausea hit me.

"_Always barking orders aren't you?_" Noah said harshly. He then laughed, "_I've been observing you and it's time I put you in your place Seto. So from now on, I'll be calling the shots around here._"

"Hn."

Noah's face disappeared from the screen and a view of the ocean down below us appeared. The water began churning roughly as something large and scary surfaced. I felt the blimp begin to descend and was secretly happy we were landing.

"_Thanks for dropping in Seto._" Noah's face appeared back on the screen as the blimp hit something solid, "_Time for you and your friends to exit the ship_."

Kaiba remained stoic faced as he said, "Is that so? What if we don't." he folded his arms in a challenging master.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, using Serenity to steady myself. I quietly thanked her before glancing at Kaiba. That idiot is going to get us all killed at this rate.

Noah laughed, paying no heed to Kaiba's scary aura. "_I'm afraid at this point refusal is not an option…thanks to my stun fazers!_"

Lights flickered on, revealing many sets of weapons all point directly at us.

"Do what he says," Tristan suggested while at the same time Joey exclaimed, "This kid's nuts!"

Yeah no kidding.

Noah smiled darkly as his weapons fired off, "_Those were just warnings, Seto._" he laughed smugly, "_Now you and your friends can either stay in the ship and risk being gravy injured or you and your friends can exit the aircraft like I said,_"

Brat when I find you, I'm going to give you an atomic wedgie, I thought nastily as I glared at the screen. One Kaiba is bad enough, but two? The world cannot handle two egoistical Kaibas. Especially a teenaged Kaiba.

"Mokuba," Kaiba moved towards his little bro, "You're staying here understand? Do not leave the ship under any circumstance." Kaiba sent Mokuba a fierce glare as he opened his mouth to argue.

But it was ineffective. "Bro, I'm coming too. We're a team," Mokuba countered.

"Hn."

Yugi looked towards Kaiba, "We're coming with you also," he said firmly.

"Obviously," Kaiba said in a condescending manner. He headed out first and then we followed.

"_Now please proceed ahead where my associated will greet you._" Noah instructed as a set of automatic doors slid open.

Impending doom. Impending doom. Impending doom.

We walked in silence, everyone silently imagining different scenarios. I watched as a troubled expression settled onto Yugi's face. His head was pointed downward and he seemed to be in deep thought. I bet he was conversing with Yami. I wanted to reassure him that everything would be okay, but clearly I wasn't going to be able to.

Tea placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a smile. "Hey, it'll be okay," she gave Yugi a thumbs up.

I narrowed my eyes and glared daggers at her.

As we neared the end of the path, laugher echoed. And it wasn't the sound on an immature adolescent brat.

Kaiba stopped short, "It can't be," he muttered.

"Kaiba don't just stop," Joey nearly walked into the tall brunette but quickly side stepped him.

"Shut it Wheeler," Kaiba retorted.

An immensely bright light shined, blinding us all. As it died down, five shadows appeared belonging to five old men in business suits. The one in the middle spoke, "Surprised to see us Kaiba? You should have known we'd be back…for revenge."

Okay the dramatic pause is seriously lame. But this is not good. NOT GOOD.

"These guys seem very familiar," Yugi commented.

Mokuba turned to him, "These are the five creeps that tried to get rid of Seto and take over Kaiba Corp," he reminded. He glared at them as he revealed their names, "Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Nezbitt and Leichter. They're known as The Big Five and they were trapped in the virtual world instead of Seto."

Joey chimed in, his brown eyes flaring with anger as he gazed at them, "Yeah now I remember them. They trapped Kaiba in cyber land until we saved them."

"It's time to pay a visit to our special dueling world for a virtual dueling tournament."

"Get ready to be trapped in the virtual world forever!"

The sensation of falling ensued and I grabbed the first thing my hand could find…which happened to be Serenity.

Whoops my bad.

**-End-**

Wow...the preview edit doc function is being an ass T_T

Oh my gosh, an update so quickly? Could it be? Yes indeed. Yay.

Nothing much to say. I talked to you guys about a month ago. I am very happy to know I haven't lost you guys XD OMG JAPAN WAS AWESOME!

And-

I'M GRADUATING IN 3 WEEKS! WHAT! My classes are over and all that's left are the AP and IB exams. I'm so happy. So very very happy.

I was wondering if I could ask you guys something, especially anyone from NYC. What's America like? I haven't been there in so long. I mean I was there this summer, but that wasn't enough time to learn what everyone is like and how things are run. I know American customs and social norms are extremely different than in Shanghai. I don't want to accidentally offend/piss off anyone. What are the social fads? Are clothes expensive? What do people wear? Trivial things that may seem like common sense to you guys. How much is a hot dog? Is it okay to hit on a guy? Are guys cute? Can I work part time somewhere? Etc...Seriously guys, anything is helpful. I can give you guys an example of how different Shanghai is. People can pee anywhere in the streets if they want to and sometimes even in malls and on buses and trains (although only young children can get away with that) I know people in America do not do this.

Now to talk about this chapter. YES! I finally made it to the virtual world. Gosh I never thought they'd get off this blimp. Woohoo! I am seriously happy. Aww but poor Allie and Yami. Anyways this chapter was supposed to be light hearted with a lot of annoying Kaiba, but plans changed. Hmm what is wrong with Allie? I'll tell you this, her right arm is important ;) I've tried to give clues, but I don't think any of you will guess what I have planned for her. I just hope you enjoy it and don't freak out on me.

Anyways I have an important announcement: **The next couple of chapters are Bakura centered**. Yay isn't that exciting? Because poor Bakura, he hasn't really had any time to shine so far. So it's time to reveal to you guys what he's been up to. Also you're going to find out things XD They won't be long. But I'll be back tracking and writing about him. I hope he doesn't come off ooc. I know his character, but not really well, so any words of advice about him would be helpful ^^ He plays an important role throughout the story.

Another thing, I was shopping today and I found a perfect Millennium Heart. I immediately bought it and will post a picture on the live journal account for this story XD

**Thanks to:**

**Quiet Harmony-chan** Mmm well Allie doesn't think of sneaking out of the house as lying because she's allowed to leave freely. She's not confined to home although her parents do frown upon leaving Sam alone, but she isn't sneaking. XD

**Aqua Girl 007**

**Scaevola2 **

**yyh-ygo-fma **Things will be resolved in time. Eventually…but Yami's feelings were hinted in that tiny conversation. Enjoy.

**AmethystJoker **Back! Yeah the last chapter was very emotional. That outburst from Allie about going home- I can't say much about it without revealing something, but the fact that it happened is relevant. It will be explained :D

**Airheadninja **You're going for a month! OMG you are so lucky! I am so jealous. But omg Japan is SO EXPENSIVE. I was there for five days and I spent so much- every penny was worth it, but seriously omg I can't believe how much I spent. Their shoes are amazing- seriously expensive, but amazing! But they're all designed for short people as the heels are super tall. Lalalala Tokyo was amazing. You have to go to harajuka takeshita street. Lalalala it is amazing! So many hot guys. The ones I found the hottest always had girlfriends. SOB.

**Dontgotaclue88**

**ScarletBlackBerry **The reason why I didn't explain how Allie knocked Yami out was because she herself didn't know. But it goes something along the lines of she electrocuted him. I won't saying anything about Shadi XD His role will remain in question. Is he good? Is he bad? What are the reasons behind his actions? Hmmm….

**Ren**

**TexasDreamer01**

**AbyssTales **Wow thanks that's like the highest form of flattery XD You're making me blush. I hope you enjoyed watching YGO and weren't disappointed. You should try watching YGOTAS, it's even funnier ^^

**Purple Dragon Of The Flames**

**GirXzimXfanatic **God no, I would never abandon this story. I will see this story through to the end. I can promise you that.

**-extra-**

Oh yes before I forget, I wrote a scene that I couldn't fit in here, but I wanted to share it with you because I think you guys would find it funny. I don't know though, but I hope you guys find it funny. Allie's wild imaginations:

This is so dumb. I feel like I'm in exile. Actually I'm pretty much in the time out corner. I don't know if Yami told everyone and that's why no one's talking to me- or if it's just a coincident and I'm reading too much into the situation. What I do know is that I am one hundred percent sure Yami blabbed to Tea.

_Allie vision:_

It is late. Everyone is asleep.

Yami is standing around alone, staring off into the distance- a troubled look haunting his beautiful face. He has forgotten about the time.

Tea, having checked Yugi's room multiple times is now searching the aircraft for him. Tea passes by the dining hall and catches a glimpse of blonde hair. Tea's Yugi radar fires off and she enters, surprising the King of Games. Tea immediately senses there is something wrong. She decides to butt her nose into his business and meddle- because clearly Yami is incapable of handling it himself.

Tea: Oh Yami there you are!

Yami turns around in alarm thinking it is one of his crazy obsessed fangirls that stalk him relentlessly. Oh it's just Tea.

Yami: Tea, what are you doing…here…at two in the morning?

Tea: Oh you know…

Yami does not, but Tea is his friend so he doesn't have to think about it. Yami turns back to staring aimlessly down below into darkness. All he wants to do is to be left alone with his thoughts and discuss things with Yugi. Obviously that plan has gone down the toilet.

Pointless chatting ensues including a Saving the world speech, a Things are so complicated speech, an I don't know what to do anymore speech and lastly a friendship speech delivered by Tea.

Blah.

Tea: So Yami what's bothering you?

Yami: Blabs everything just to get Tea to shut up.

_End Allie vision_.

**Review!**

**Thank you guys.**

**ZTL**


	23. Phase I

**Phase I**

_Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are._

_"Be patient Bakura, you'll have the Millennium Rod soon enough,_" Marik had promised.

Bakura growled as an image of a smug Marik popped into his head. He would only wait so long. The Thief Kind hardly imagined it would be a challenge to rip the Millennium Rod from Marik's girly hands. But for now, until Bakura grew bored of waiting and nicely lending his assistance, he would set his sights on something more interesting: that silly pendant Marik had asked him to retrieve. The Tomb keeper believed it to be an eighth Millennium Item, but Bakura sensed something darker residing inside it- he guessed Marik hadn't noticed and he wasn't in a hurry to tell the blonde.

Bakura was curious as to why his Millennium Ring seemed drawn to that pitiful object. It wasn't a Millennium Item- no there were only seven, Bakura was sure of that much. The albino scoffed at the very idea of that Allie girl holding a more powerful item than he. While power wise it appeared puny, it was still a treasure and as the ultimate Thief King, he had the rightful duty to take what belonged to him; which was to say everything.

Currently Bakura was making his way back to Domino Pier. Marik had sent Bakura out to collect locater cards. But most duelists had already been eliminated and so that posed a problem. As Bakura walked down Domino pedestrian street, the Millennium Ring rattled and he picked up the presence of the Millennium Puzzle. Bakura looked ahead to see the spirit of the Puzzle with Seto Kaiba

An evil grin spread across his face. Now would be his chance to duel Yami and win the Millennium Puzzle for himself, "Ah Phar-"

Sadly Bakura wasn't the only one who saw the Pharaoh-

"Ohmigosh it's YUGI MOTO!" a loud girly screech exclaimed.

"Get out of the way!"

Bakura barely had any time to react as one large girl roughly shoved him aside sending him flying to the floor. But it didn't end there. As Bakura picked himself up, ready to send that ugly beast to the shadow realm for eternity, he was suddenly pushed back down. And to add insult to injury, he was stepped on, repeatedly.

"Yugi Moto, he's _so_ hott!"

"I want him!"

"Bitch please, he's MINE! YUGI I LOVE YOU!"

"Yugi will you sign my chest?" another fangirl called out, completely missing Bakura and stomping on him as she rushed over to the celebrity duelist.

"!" an unintelligible noise came from Bakura as a foot collided with his back, squashing the air right out of him.

"Get away from him you skank, like hell he's yours!"

"Yours? I don't-"

"SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!" Bakura roared, finally managing to get to his feet without being knocked down by another bumbling naive idiotic fangirl. "I'll send all you cows to the shadow realm where you will rot until you are all old hags!" The Millennium Ring glowed brightly as traces of the shadow realm began to leak out.

Fifty pairs of a variety of different colored eyes all slowly turned to Bakura, every single one of them leering dangerously.

"Who you calling a hag, scrawny weasel?" challenged one fangirl. It had been the one who had first pushed Bakura down. She waddled over, while the other fangirls lined up side by side, ready to kill. Veins of anger and annoyance surfaced on their foreheads while their eyes blazed with fangirl rage. Hell hath no fury like an obsessed crazy in love fangirl scorned- surely even you aren't that dumb not to know that, Bakura?

Bakura only snarled as he recognized the fangirl. She would be the one to pay first. After all it was her entire fault had been…well to say for lack of words, trampled on by rabid fangirls. He prepared to send her to the deepest depths of the shadow realm. If the world was filled with only idiotic deluded fangirls, then it wouldn't be very hard to take over.

"Do you," she said slowly in her deep voice, "have a problem with _our_ Yugi?" she folded her arms and glared down at Bakura.

"Ha!" Bakura jeered, "Y- Ompf!"

The large fangirl, with one swing of her hand, easily whacked Bakura across the head rendering him out cold.

"Scrawny weasel," she muttered, turning around and lumbering back.

Oh Bakura don't you know? Never insult Yugi Moto aloud because his fangirls will **always** hear about it and they **will** come for you.

**-X-**

Now Bakura had a new reason to destroy the Pharaoh. When he came to, he swore loudly earning him hard stares from mothers within earshot. Bakura only made a nasty face in return. Like he cared really. Ra, Bakura would rather have the world filled with idiots like that silly girl than heinous fangirls.

A high pitched tone began emanating from his duel disk. Bakura glanced at it to find it malfunctioning. Damn those fangirls to the deepest abyss of the shadow realm! Random life points were rolling- increasing and then decreasing down towards the negative zone; was that even possible?.

Bakura shook his arm, "You will obey me!" he stated furiously.

The duel disk only continued to break further upon abuse.

Bakura glared daggers as though the inanimate object would actually succumb to his will in fear. When nothing happened, Bakura removed Kaiba's stupid piece of technology from his arm and tossed it carelessly aside. It wasn't that big of a deal. In fact, that fail duel disk didn't even _belong_ to him. No big loss. He'd just get another one. And it's not like dear Allie would actually be needing it always. She was indeed a terrible duelist- not that he cared.

The Millennium Ring flared brightly as Bakura arrived back at Domino Pier. All five points were pulling in the same direction as they pointed towards Marik's boat. Bakura instantly realized they were trying to get to that strange fake Millennium Item. Bakura looked around for signs of the ice blonde tomber keeper or his loyal dog, Odion. With the coast clear, Bakura made his way towards the intriguing magic source.

Bakura found Allison sprawled out across the floor on Marik's boat. He took a moment to laugh at how unladylike her sleeping pose was. It reminded him of a wild monkey…or an elephant. If only he had a camera what great black mail he would have. Bakura was even tempted to write LOSER across her forehead, but sadly he couldn't find a marker. Lucky for Allie.

As Bakura moved closer to her, the 'eighth' Item rose, hovering as far as its chain would let it. The pendant too glowed, but not bright gold like the Ring. Instead essences of the shadow realm flowed out. The dark smoky purple and pitch black were unmistakable. The very heart was engulfed by black fire.

Bakura could sense something very evil and it excited him. He reached out and grasped the object in one hand. Immediately an electrifying sensation seared his hand and Bakura winced in pain.

All light disappeared.

"Welcome, Spirit of the Millennium Ring." a distorted mangled voice called out.

The darkness dissolved, though it made no difference as the scene that replaced it was nearly pitch black itself. Bakura could hear the sound of fire crackling, but there was no sight of the natural light source. His Millennium Ring hung limply, once again calm now. Bakura guessed he was about to find out what darkness he had detected earlier.

Bakura found himself standing in a very grungy dungeon like chamber. He could barely make out crumbling stone walls. Mold was forming everywhere and an odd smell plagued the place. His feet knocked into random pieces of rock. As Bakura observed his surroundings with keen eyes he began to realize that where he was standing was not a dungeon as he had first thought but the very throne room of the Pharaoh. In his five thousand years of age, he still remembered this place.

"Show yourself!" Bakura ordered.

The Thief King saw the air flicker and an intense pressure shook the entire place causing the already decaying walls to crack even more. Bakura barely held his ground as two dark figures emerged from thin air.

The figures hovered off the ground, their giant bat like wings silently beating slowly up and down. Fanged teeth revealed themselves as the figures broke out into gleeful horrible smiles.

"Welcome, Spirit of the Millennium Ring," the beast on the right uttered.

Bakura held his ground. "And who would you be?" he asked coolly.

A ball of colorful fire surrounded both beasts, one a grimy yellow and the other crimson red. Bakura held his arm up to shield his eyes from the heat. When he lowered his arm down he found two young boys grinning at him.

"Hello Thief King, you can call me Hatter. And this is Jaq."

* * *

I have a confession to make: I only just found out who Zorc was. I've heard people mention him and stuff, but I never actually knew he was the actual spirit of the ring. XD don't hate me. Anyways I told you these chapters wouldn't be long but OMG PLOT TWIST no? Didn't see something like that happening did ya? I tried to leave clues about the MH before this. So hmmm, what does this mean now? Connect the dots :] Also the beginning was added not only just because I wanted to mess with Bakura but I decided to reveal how Bakura actually 'lost' Allie's duel disk. Tsk tsk.

Whoohoo only 2 more weeks left!

Hope you all enjoyed. Also I hope Bakura wasn't ooc, I need to study his character more and rewatch episodes.

**Thanks to: **

**EgyptianSoul88- **Hmmm I won't say XD But yes you're right. Hope you enjoyed this I know he's your favorite character.

**1412 karasu- **LOL COLLEGE!

**Airheadninja- **Oh yes you will LOVE Japan. Seriously go to Harajuku Takeshita street! Yeah I already told you that but it is AMAZING. Save every penny for Tokyo! OMG everyone is so polite and quite! Food is expensive too. I lived off convenient store food the entire time. And ramen. I miss Japan.

**Aqua girl 007**- oh yeah I'm writing most of the seasons plus the movie. I'm excluding I think capsule monsters, the season where Kaiba hosts another tournament for the opening of Kaiba land or something and I think that's it, but I'll have to go back and check,

**yyh-ygo-fma- **Hmm I would write about Yami's thoughts, but I think I would get stuck. Oooh what happened between Allie ad Kaiba lol, I think it'll be revealed later on. And Allie and her arm, it will definitely be revealed during these short Bakura centered chapters XD Don't give up, I'm sure you'll figure it out before I write it. So take a wild guess!

**Drogyn **

**GirXzimXfanatic- **hmmm something close to that XD

**Scaevola2- **XD haha thanks for all that. It has been dually noted. I'm so excited to go back.

**Ren- **I'll try because I can't ever imagine the canon cast swearing, except for Bakura. But Allie, I can't make promises since she changes randomly.

**lemmiehaveit**

**Dontgotaclue88**- you'll find out in these next few chapters!

**Aurineko- **Sorry nope. But good guess. What actually is happening will be revealed very soon.

**Review!**

**I'm stalling studying for AP Psych exams tomorrow.**

**Enjoy.**

**ZTL.**


	24. Phase II

**Phase II**

Up above the world so high, like diamond in the sky.

Bakura had always known there had been something off about Allison Grey, ever since their first meeting on Domino street when his Millennium Ring had been magnetically drawn to her. The thief king admitted he thought at first his Millennium Ring had made a mistake- though if ever asked, he would deny it completely. Allie, evil? That was a joke. The girl couldn't last one hour without getting into trouble. But the Ring never lies. And maybe there was nothing wrong with her on a personal level, but the presence of corruption and malevolence was unmistakable. It clung to her like a parasite to its host.

It was actually a mild relief to know that the girl was not a she-satan in disguise. Just the idea of her being evil horrified him. But this, this was way beyond what he speculated about the clumsy girl. Things were getting interesting. Bakura was even more sure that Marik had no idea that Allie's 'Millennium Item' was essentially a trojan horse in the disguise of a blessing. And he would make it so only he was aware of the chaos that was to ensue in time. The thief king didn't want any unnecessary interference from any party. This would remain a secret until things played out. And Bakura would make sure he was there to see everything fall apart.

"Our _King_ turned his back on us!

Bakura resisted the urge to roll his eyes and held in a sigh. He didn't care about their problems. He already heard enough from Marik and how he had been wronged; Bakura didn't need another pity me party. But the thief king remained silent only because he thought that eventually one of them might divulge something of interest. The ancient spirit was starting to feel like a babysitter what with the way his coconspirators behaved.

The one called Jaq continued to rage, his face flushing red, "He trapped us here to watch over-"

At this point Hatter, who had been floating around aimlessly, touched ground and whacked his partner in crime upside the head, "Now where's the fun in spoilers?" he questioned humorously, sending Bakura a pleasant smile.

Bakura only narrowed his eyes in distrust. This person, spirit- Hatter was dangerous, _almost_ as scary as Bakura was, but the albino scoffed at the idea of someone being better than he. Behind the charming smile Hatter wore, the odd choice of clothes and pleasant air, there was something vile and sinister rotting away. The Millennium Ring had picked up on that instantaneously as Bakura had come to realize that source of the dark presence he felt from the klutz was originating from the blonde in front of him.

Bakura kept his arms folded, "Quit wasting my time with useless banter," he stated coldly. He didn't care about their petty problems; in fact he didn't care about anyone's anything. Why did people even bother telling him? It was just noise.

Jaq looked ready to burst, but Hatter cut him off, "You'll have to forgive him. We forget that time has meaning to you, Thief King. Here, time ceases to exist." he explained.

"Hn." If one of them didn't reveal soon what it was that they intended to do, Bakura was going to leave. He thought of this meeting as somewhat of a detour to pass the time. If he wanted to listen to a sob story he would rile Marik up.

"But yes you are right, I suppose," Hatter admitted thoughtfully.

Bakura didn't miss the glint that flashed in the blonde's emerald orbs. He had sort of pieced together what the two wanted based off of the raven haired boy's rants. They wanted out and revenge. Was there no one left, besides himself, who wanted to do evil just for fun? Why did one have to have a reason? Bakura frowned to himself.

"So let's get down to business shall we?" the blonde proposed, "But first let's go somewhere a little more…cheery?" he laughed to himself.

Bakura followed from a distance. As they trekked through darkness, a loud cry sounded off causing the stone walls to shake. The ancient spirt threw a questioning look as the cries became louder. He could detect the sound of chains rattling. The two boys payed no heed to the noise almost pretending they couldn't hear it. They only seemed to acknowledge the strange beastly cries when Bakura voiced aloud his thoughts.

Hatter cast a look back, a thoughtful grin on his face, "Oh don't mind that. It's only Malice."

A curious brow shot up.

"Malice just doesn't seem to agree with us," the Mad Hatter explained cheerfully, but a dark expression crossed his face, "Malice needs to be punished." he informed quietly.

As the three continued walking down what seemed an endless corridor, the scenery shifted and Bakura found himself in a decaying throne room. Malice could still be heard, but the cries were muffled.

"Thief King," Jaq said, taking over, "We know what is that you want. All seven Millennium Items?"

Bakura tensed.

Jaq laughed, "And you also have questions about this girl?" the raven haired boy smirked in triumph, "Like say…where she comes from? Or how about how she came into contact with such an item?" he shoved his hands into his baggy cargos and watched the albino, looking for sign to prove he was right.

Hatter only sighed, taking more interest a lone thread that was unraveling from his vest.

Meanwhile Jaq continued to enlighten Bakura with bits of information, "-she's a host," he revealed, though he did not go into it. "Our _King's_ been searching for someone alike to _that person_ and this dumbshit happens to be the closest thing- though she is a tad bit pathetic," he shrugged, leaving his sentence hanging. "Got a cute little crush on the Pharaoh, she does."

"And your point?" Bakura pursed his lips together in annoyance.

Jaq again shrugged, "Don't have one. Anyways," golden eyes narrowed, "I guess a congratz is in order," he said, switching topics, "This should have been said earlier, but better late than never. You seem to be one of the few to realize the truth about this piece of junk," he snickered, "Unlike that dumb spirit, Shadi. That fool believes this piece of junk to be a Millennium Item. It's really funny. Even the tomb keepers believe to be a keepsake of our _King_."

Seriously this guy was starting to sound worse than Marik. Bakura only had room for one whiner and that was the annoying tomb keeper. This was just ridiculous. Either one of them got to the point or he was actually going to leave. It wasn't a threat anymore, it was a promise. Everything that was being said was completely meaningless- at least to Bakura. Clearly it meant otherwise to the nimrod.

"I'm growing tired," Bakura announced rudely, staring at Hatter. He had come to steal this Millennium Item lookalike, not be subjected to an endless rant. The thief king had mentally dubbed Jaq as the useless fool.

"Aren't we all?" Hatter replied. He sat up, choosing to pick his ear before speaking, "But yes, let us get a move on before the ugly duckling wakes up. To put it simply, we need your help in escaping," the blonde said seriously.

Bakura sneered, "Yes, I've managed to put that together myself," he retorted dryly. "What's in it for me if I help you?" Because of course Bakura would never just 'lend a helping hand'. He was the grinch and he didn't go out of his way for just anybody.

Jaq smoothed a wolfish grin over his face, "You want the seven Millennium Items? We can give you the seven Millennium Items," the boy made it out so that it sounded as though he were referring to simple household items easily obtained at a convenient store.

The thief king had been so close to agreeing. He had barely just contained himself. The seven Millennium Items, to obtain them was one of his life goals along with destroying Yugi and the Pharaoh and (a new one, he had just added) annihilating all fangirls. They were what he desired. Ultimate power and riches. Yami Bakura wanted to immediately seize the opportunity, but for some reason an annoyingly familiar voice belonging to a certain female was preventing him from doing so.

It was a bizarre conversation and if ever asked Bakura would lie through his teeth that it did not take place.

"No," Bakura rejected coolly, "I don't think so. I can get them on my own,"

The blonde scratched his head and snapped his finger comically, "Oh snap, I didn't see that one coming." He folded his arms, "Hmm this is tough. I thought for sure you would accept." Hatter shrugged and grinned towards Jaq, "Oh well, we tried."

Bakura didn't like how the two boys didn't seemed very surprised at his answer.

The Mad Hatter moved forward and placed a hand on the spirit's shoulder, "You might want to think about what it is that you want," he suggested, letting go as Bakura shrugged off his hand. "Anywho this wasn't too bad for an introduction eh?" the blonde smiled, "We'll talk again, but the homunculus seems to be waking. We don't need her just this minute. So, as you would say, cheerio." Hatter waved, pushing Bakura back.

Bakura furiously tried to get in a last word, but everything disappeared before he had a chance.

"Thank you Thief King," Hatter said to where Bakura once stood. The blonde mock bowed, taking off his imaginary top hat.

Jaq appeared next to his partner, his hands in his pockets as he too smirked in the same direction. "One step closer," he grinned.

"Indeed," Hatter muttered, his emerald eyes burning holes into the ground, "This prison can only hold so much,"

"Aye," Jaq agreed. "And the Thief King just made it all that easier. What do we do with him now? We don't need him anymore."

"Not just yet. We still need him to awaken _that_ spirit,"

"Oh I forgot about him,"

"Shall we go see if Malice has decided to change her mind?"

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

So to clarify:

-Hatter and Jaq have their own agendas.

-The Millennium Heart is not a millennium item.

-Only Bakura knows Hatter and Jaq's true colors.

-Hatter and Jaq want out.

-The MH is not what it seems as Bakura calls it a trojan horse in the disguise of a blessing.

-Something about Shadi and the tomb keeper family. You'll have to read between the lines to catch that one XD

-More that I won't say but you'll have to find yourself XD

As I was writing this Hatter's and Jaq accents kept changing in my head which resulted in awkward dialog. Jaq kept speaking in a southern accent while Hatter alternated from emotionless to super friendly. But I'm just going to go with it because they've been around for a very long time. They most likely picked up the accents over time. I'm still trying to grasp Bakura's character, I don't know how he's supposed to act.

So we've learned things haven't we? *gasp* Plot twist. Thought the MH was a millennium item eh? And what exactly are Jaq and Hatter blabbing about? Hmmm I wonder. Even poor Bakura can't get a clue. That last bit was meant to inform you on Jaq and Hatter's characters. So can anyone

Anywho oh yes important: I confused some readers back in the last chapter sorry. I time jumped backward a bit. **Currently this is taking place around Chapter 11ish when Allie was with Marik.** It's moving forward from there.

Umm the album cover art work, if it's confusing- it's just a picture of a fountain with the words: **YGO This Way.** I'm not that creative and it's not big enough for me to put a lot of effort into worrying over the cover. But I figured a picture of the fountain as good.

I'm done with highschool officially. Graduated like two weeks ago. Graduation was so boring. I fell asleep because everyone's speeches were boring. Our senior speaker started comparing highschool to 500 days of summer. *facepalm* Anyways getting ready to move back to Manhattan. Super excited. Turning 18 this Friday. OMGOMGOMG LALALALALALA. 18! I was 16 when I started this story. Wow I feel old. Working on starting to get a driver's license- haven't even touched a car. Kind of scared. Looking at jobs on craigslist. Thinking about getting a nose piercing. Anyone have one? Oh I got a tattoo on my foot- meaningful of course XD

There's (there will be) stuff on the livejournal.

Hmm I think there's maybe one more Bakura chapter left…maybe not. Don't want to reveal everything just now- although, oh wait yes there is one more, but I think for now we're done with Hatter and Jaq- I could be wrong.

**XOXO to:**

**ThePursuit** Oh my thank you *blushes* hope this chapter was to your liking and of course you enjoyed ;)

**Dontgotaclue88** Oh no what are you confused about?

**Calarie **

**Ren **tried not to swear so much, but boys will be boys XD

**AmethystJoker**

**EgyptianSoul88** his fangirls terrorize him with their love and never let him leave XD I wonder what's next too, gotta go and think.

**Scaevola2 **Nah I don't have to worry about that until the final season XD

**yyh-ygo-fma**

**1412 karasu **Oh my a lot of my readers seem to be confused. I'm sorry. What exactly are you confused about? I'll answer any questions XD

**Airheadninja **I was tempted to make several gifs of my reaction. You lived in Japan? So jealous right now. But all I can offer is my inner fangirl squeals. Ahem. ! ALALALALALALAAL OMG.

**Review! (So close to 300 :3 )**

**Any questions feel free to ask.**

**Summer is here!**

**ZTL**


	25. Phase III

_Previously on Yu err… Ba-ku-ra-OH_

_"And who would you be?"_

_"Hello Thief King, you can call me Hatter. And this is Jaq."_

_"Our King turned his back on us!"_

_"Our King's been searching for someone alike to that person and this dumbshit happens to be the closest thing- though she is a tad bit pathetic,"_

_"To put it simply, we need your help in escaping,"_

_"What's in it for me if I help you?"_

_"We can give you the seven Millennium Items,"_

_"No."_

_"This prison can only hold so much,"_

* * *

**Phase III**

Bakura was out for blood. To be more specific Allison Grey's blood. As if that was anything new. Every time he ran into that clumsy, unintellectual wildebeest, trouble always followed. Though for all the inconvenience she caused him, Allie would prove to be useful towards his overall endgame. Bakura would make sure of it. The thief king had plans for her…or rather that tainted piece of jewelry that hung around her neck. Unfortunately, to Bakura's frustration, for now if he wanted it, he got Allie too. A terrible two for one deal.

But for now, Bakura was out to strangle Allie. In the nicest way possible of course. Not really.

_'Bakura'_

"What Marik?" Bakura growled aloud, glaring upwards. To any normal person observing, the white haired boy would look very crazy; talking loudly to himself while making very strange faces. What said person didn't know was that the white haired boy was plagued by a certain highly annoying egyptian blonde named Marik.

_'Already lost our dear Allie? Tsk tsk getting sloppy.'_ Marik mused.

"Hn." the spirit of the ring replied. It wasn't his fault. That girl was just incapable of listening. He had specifically ordered her not to move. To stay put. For like five seconds while he went and took a duel disk from some lame duelist. His brows deepened, "How did you know?" To Bakura's knowledge, he wasn't aware that Marik could track people other than his minions and himself, if Bakura permitted it.

Marik laughed, _'She can't be left on her own,'_ he answered cryptically.

Here would be a classic example of the trouble Allie caused him.

A weird feeling stirred within Bakura at Marik's revelation. It was bizarre because he couldn't put a name to it automatically. It wasn't happiness nor was it his usual frustration that he felt when either Marik or Allie was involved. This was different. The unknown emotion was immediately dismissed, Bakura labeling it as nothing more than a different type of annoyance. He didn't like to share. Also he didn't want Marik to find out about the secret of Allie's forged Millennium Item.

The scenery that was Domino City dissolved and Bakura found himself standing across from Marik in a sea of mist. The possessor of the Millennium Rod wore a smirk on his tanned face. To his right stood an oh so familiar person. This is exactly why he told her not to wander. Because something like this happened. Bakura resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Marik had no idea what he was about to get them both into.

And now Allie seemed to be under Marik's control. So the fake couldn't protect her always, Bakura noted as he studied Allie's kind of lifeless form. She was just standing there, obediently and for once silent; an obvious sign something wasn't right.

"It seems I may have underestimated Allie," Marik admitted, prodding the golden heart shaped pendant with his own Millennium Item. Sparks flared at contact and the blonde scowled.

"Oh really now?" Bakura replied carefully.

Marik turned his attention solely onto the foreign piece of ancient jewelry while still keeping conversation with Bakura. "Yes," he finally spoke, lifting the Heart up with one of the pointed edges of his staff in order to avoid being electrocuted. "My sister Ishizu knows more, but I had Odion look into this," Marik poked the Heart once more.

Bakura raised a subtle brow, taking note of the new information. Maybe for once Marik was about to tell him something useful. The Thief King nodded, indicating he was listening.

"Well go on," Bakura growled as nicely as possible. He hated how Marik always made dramatic pauses. It was completely pointless and it made it impossible for him to ever take Marik seriously. What was that blonde thinking? No wonder he had to mind enslave his minions, he must have realized that no one actually listened to him otherwise.

"…and this particular Millennium Item was created specifically to protect the Pharaoh."

Ra, Bakura realized he had missed out on half of what the naive blonde had said. His brain was just so accustomed to tuning out Marik's whiny voice, that it was just an automatic reflex. Something about Marik's previous statement lit up a flare signal in his brain. Bakura hid his smile. Marik, for the arrogance he flaunted, hadn't caught on to the fact that Allie's Millennium Item was a fake. Hopefully it would stay that way.

"-And it belongs to me!"

Somehow Bakura had managed again to miss everything Marik had just said. His brain just would not tolerate idiocy today. Bakura rolled his eyes, an extremely bored expression masking his face. He readied himself to listen to Marik''s complaints.

"I thought you didn't have a need for the Millennium Items," Bakura reminded with an under tone.

Marik replied with a snide look, "I don't. But this is different," he reasoned, "When I become the Pharaoh, this will be proof."

Bakura was lost. But then again, Marik didn't often make much sense when he did bother to listen to the tomb keeper's rant.

"Come again,"

"Keep up Bakura," Marik huffed.

I'm going to kill you, Bakura thought darkly, a large vein throbbing on his right temple.

"This is a symbol of the Pharaoh,"

Bakura still had no idea what Marik was trying to say. "How so?"

Marik rolled his amethyst eyes and Bakura had to restrain himself from hurting the ice blonde. "It belonged to the Pharaoh's Knight. Weren't you listening to anything I just said?" Marik demanded with annoyance.

Die. Die. Die. "Yes,"

Marik, completely unaware of the death sentence he had just acquired himself, continued on; more mumbling to himself than to Bakura. "But what does this girl have? Why would my sister give her this?" He poked the gold heart with his staff. Sparks flared and Marik frowned. "What power do you hold? I must know."

Marik continued to mumble to himself, he flipped the pendant over and inspected the symbols inscribed. Bakura mulled over the blonde's words, his brain trying to organize all this new information. The Pharaoh's Knight? What kind of stupid name was that? He glazed over at the quiet Allie and scoffed. There was no way Allie was capable of being something as majestic as a knight, let alone the Pharaohs. Someone was mistaken.

The Millennium Ring interrupted the rest of Bakura's thoughts. It flared brightly and then starting pulling towards Allie's direction. The Millennium Rod was also glowing brightly. Bakura knew this suffocating atmosphere. His brown orbs trailed over down to the heart necklace. It was once again engulfed in black fire. The essence of the shadow realm was pouring out, cascading down to their feet.

"What is this?" Marik demanded, taking a step back.

Bakura had a fair idea of what was about to happen. "Don't touch it," he warned sarcastically. Bakura watched with little interest as Marik did exactly the opposite. The blonde fearlessly wrapped his hand around the black pendant. Everything dissolved instantly. Allie and Marik disappeared. This time Bakura was prepared and was not the least surprised to find himself standing in the middle of a decaying throne room.

Marik, on the other hand, was a bit…disorientated shall we say. He was used to being the one in control. He quickly reigned his composure and gracefully walked over to the holder of the Millennium Ring. "Bakura, what is this?"

Bakura only shrugged. He did not feel the least bit inclined of explaining jack. "How should I know."

Before Marik could continue, a newcomer called out to them.

"Back so soon?" he asked, looking down at Bakura.

"Hn."

Hatter raised a curious brow, "What ho? Someone else?"

Marik immediately caught on to the fact that Bakura knew this stranger. He watched as the sandy blonde was joined by a boy with jet black hair. The blonde muttered something to his partner which caused the onyx haired kid to grin wildly. As soon as the blonde touched the ground, he tipped an imaginary hat towards them and bowed.

"Welcome Thief King and Tomb Keeper. We are the guardians of the power of the Millennium Heart," Hatter said in his most charming voice.

Bakura noted how Hatter knew exactly what to say in order to lull Marik into a false sense of security. But he could the hear the sinister undertone in the spirit's words. Bakura remained quiet, interested to see how things would work out.

"We are mere humble servants of our King. You may call me Hatter and he is Jaq." That smile of glee and almost triumph never left the taller boy's face as he slowly moved forward until he was in front of Marik. Jaq hung back, his face obscured by his bangs; his hood also cast a dark shadow over the remaining part of his face.

Hatter placed out a hand and touched the head of the Millennium Rod. He nodded. Marik strained his ears as Hatter muttered to himself. It seemed he were having a conversation.

"Yes, very shortly. I know. Why don't we make a deal? I can help."

Marik frowned, feeling slightly uneasy. There was something wrong with this boy. Some very dark was festering inside him, he could feel it.

Jaq wandered over to the Thief King, his hands jammed in his pockets. He placed himself directly in front of Bakura's vision, forcing the white haired albino to focus on him. "Let's go for a walk."

Bakura caught the ulterior meaning and reluctantly agreed. Though he was curious about what was about to happen, he also had questions and suspected that he could get answers out of Jaq easier if Hatter wasn't around. He didn't like being in the dark, especially when he was doing these two a favor.

As soon as they had exited through the doors, they were greeted with the sights of a dark decaying corridor. When the doors shut behind them, it was only darkness. Bakura could only assume they were to walk forward. He could hear Jaq sniggering under his breath. Yes getting answers wouldn't be hard. Jaq was the kind of person who needed to talk and Bakura was always the one who ended being subjected to rants.

"So tell me about the Pharaoh's Knight," Bakura started, a plan quickly formulating in his head. They hadn't mentioned this to him last time and like he just said, he didn't enjoy being excluded.

Jaq let out a harsh laugh, his voice resonating down the endless corridor, "That's a joke. The Pharaoh's Knight? No, no, those Tomb Keepers and even that fool Shadi think _she's_ someone special. That_ she _was supposed to protect the Pharaoh because our King decreed it so. No, they have the story all wrong,"

Bakura smirked, "Then what is the story, Jaq?" he questioned smoothly.

A ferocious grin spread across Jaq's face. He stretched out one hand and chanted ancient egyptian under his breath. A ball of grimy yellow fire blossomed upwards washing away the darkness and in the process lighting some very old fashion torches in. When the flames finally disappeared, a young girl stood in its wake. Her face was hidden behind her bangs while the rest of her honey blonde hair flowed wildly around her. She wore a blue-green tunic like dress with waves of purple undergarment poking out from underneath.

"She was no Pharaoh's Knight," Jaq spat viscously.

Bakura studied the young girl in front of him. She looked familiar.

"And so the story goes…"

* * *

Oh my…hello. *Ducks for cover* Just to clarify this isn't a cliff hanger. It's not yet time to reveal everything surrounding the Millennium Heart. I thought about it, but then changed my mind. I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I've been gone for so long, I definitely owe you guys more. It's been I think like six months or so? I see one or two chapters more focusing on Bakura and then we get back to Allie. I hope all ya'll are enjoying the Bakura segments. They are important. Lol he's important.

Sorry for everything being so confusing. But I'm going to post of my profile a hopefully helpful overview of what exactly is going on. I don't want to accidentally give away spoilers to my plan. Bear with me a little longer.

This chapter takes place **during chapter 14 **during that time gap when Bakura loses Allie. Obviously Allie has no memory of this taking place, a little nasty side effect of being possessed. I'll tell ya'll how it's possible to be possessed since I already hinted it just before we entered the Bakura arc. But incase ya'll don't want a spoiler (cause I'll reveal somewhere before the end of this rather long Bakura arc that just continues to go on and on) I'm going to write it backwards. **Answer now on the live journal.**

So where have I been? College. I didn't think I'd be so busy. And the first semester is coming to an end. It's gone by so fast. Actually I have my first of three Japanese finals tomorrow. Or today. Ugh. Yeah. Umm. Hopefully I won't go MIA again. Are you guys enjoying this Bakura arc? I feel bad not writing about Allie and Yami and the fact that I'm taking so long.

I've got lots to say, but it's currently one in the morning and I need to study and finish up a paper. Ugh.

_All clarifications have been posted to the live journal. _

**LOTS OF LOVE TO:**

**butterflykrp2**

**KingdomHeartsFreak99**

**YamazakiHikari**

**hydro-serpent58 **Oh my thank you. You're such a sweet reviewer to take the time to write such a long detailed review. Hmm Tea as Pharaoh's Knight? Interesting. And I do like your reasoning. Although when you say she is destined to fail, you are referring to the Pharaoh's Knight? And in that case, did the Pharaoh's Knight fail? Hmm. You know a lot about the Legendary Knights, I have to read up on that arc. But what you seem to be thinking was that I was relating that Knight to the Dragons, or something like that? Actually, hopefully you got this in the chapter, the Pharaoh's Knight has been described. She does exist in the world of duel monsters, just under a different name with a similar meaning to a function of a knight. But you have given me a lot to think about with the Legendary Knights. I'm going to go read up and figure out how they're going to work into the plot. I actually don't know much about them.

**TTYL**

**person345**

**muviri **don't be confused. I am working hard to smooth out all the kinks in this Bakura arc. Actually I had to reread through the entire story and try and figure out where I was going when I wrote what. But I have a plan and so there shouldn't be any plot holes.

**Aurineko **I'm going to post a huge clarification just for you XD Let me know what you're confused on.

**Animelover1754**

**Airheadninja **Yes being 18 sucks. Ugh I got a job, minimum wage obvs, yeah I have to shop carefully.

**OhMyGeePinkSucksAss**

**Ren**

**Dontgotaclue88**

**Shadow Realm Triforce** I'm sorry my writing/plot is confusing. I'm working hard to clarify in this and next chapter. If you have questions, or you notice something doesn't make sense, tell me.

**Scaehime-KingofKing's Daughter**

**AmethystJoker** Well Hatter comes from Alice in Wonderland. I couldn't help myself. Jaq actually comes from Cinderella. I just picked him a name. And Alice, I'm changing her name to just Malice because it's cooler. There's something about the name Alice that is just so fun to write though. Anyways you're a smart cookie to catch on the Hatter and Jaq's true nature. And they're only gonna get worse.

**Review!**

**Tell me what you're confused about.  
**

**Winter Break is next Thursday.**

**So close to freedom.**

**Thank you guys so much really.**

**ZTL**


	26. Part IV

A/N: I'm having wavering feelings, wondering if I should cut the arcs and place them in the appropriate places instead of just having them all in a row. I'll think about. **But if you do see updates or 'new' chapters, it's most likely just me moving chapters around. **

jarbu- how you call a jerboa. Apparently it's an insult to be called one. But I think they're super cute and not an insult at all.

* * *

**Chapter 26**

_Malice_

Bakura was doing great, well maybe great wasn't the right word. Actually on second thought things _could_ be better. He _could_ be in possession of all seven millennium items already. And he _could_ be rid of annoying Marik and health hazardous Allie. Oh and the Pharaoh could just go and be his servant while his silly friends could forever die. And the rest of the world could just address him as Master, but King would do as well too.

And that was only a couple of hours ago.

From making it to Battle City Finals, things had rapidly gone down hill at light speed. Really the entire world may as well have been against him. He had finally reached a point in his five thousand years of life where he concluded, why bother? Apparently every step he took forward, someone decided for sure he took ten steps backwards. But this, this had finally snapped Bakura's tolerance.

A troubled sigh expelled into the darkness, "Aye of all people, of course it would be you. It couldn't have been Wheeler or Kaiba or someone else?" the voice grumbled.

"Come again?" Bakura sneered in reply.

The voice responded with a mocking cough, "I think you heard me, _jarbu_,"

The pitch of the voice suggested it belonged to a female and its snarky tone confirmed that it belonged to a female. Ra, why were all women so…so blah? For some reason though, Bakura felt familiarity with this particular voice; like he had known it once before. The Thief King bristled, "Say that again!" he roared, not at all taking a liking to the term _jarbu_. His eyes darted around trying to locate the source of the irritating she_-_voice; darkness wasn't a problem. Sensing a vague presence to his left, Bakura abruptly swig around and marched forward.

"Something the matter, _jarbu_?" she asked.

Bakura muttered threats under his breath while glaring daggers at the mysterious female.

The unknown girl chuckled, "Oh if I were you I'd watch-"

A loud THUD resonated before she could finish her sentence followed by a stream of very foul language.

"-for that."

Bakura could hear her smirking and it only annoyed him further. He reached out a hand to feel what exactly he had walked into. Taking a wild guess at the metal, rusty texture and the cylindrical shape, he was behind bars. Maybe in some sort of cell. What a big mistake made by one very stupid individual, Bakura thought.

Just as the arrogant thief king was adjusting to the darkness, an intense light source flared up washing away the black. Bakura had to raise an arm up to shield his face as the scenery lightened considerably. When he finally did lower his arm down a girl stood before him; a wheel of fire spinning in the background. Bakura studied her through the bars of his cell. She reminded him of Allison Grey only she wasn't _and_ she was taller; they matched heights basically. Her fiery red bangs hid her eyes; Bakura did not like the fox like grin on her face.

"Yo _jarbu_ remember me?" the girl asked cockily, her arms folded in front of her.

So he wasn't crazy. Apparently they did know each other. And she knew where from.

"The all mighty Thief King," she continued in a taunting matter, "But kinda not anything anymore seeing how you're an errand boy for that Tomb Keeper," she remarked casually with a shrug of her shoulders to display her opinion, "My how you've fallen off that grand pedestal you were so proud of,"

Bakura scowled and chose to ignore her comment. He didn't have to answer to this wench. Instead he decided to address a different issue, "If I were you, I would go tell that fool Jaq, holding me here is the biggest mistake he will ever make," Bakura threatened, almost pressing his face into the bars.

The girl sighed and shook her head, "As always _jarbu_ you're mistaken. Look again genius."

This girl's mannerisms, the way her words rolled off her sharp tongue and that godforsaken name she called him; they registered somewhere in his head. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Bakura eyed the raven haired girl once more. Maybe it wasn't where, but, "It's you!" Bakura's eyes widened in recognition. He gripped the bars to his cell, "Why am I here?" A set of rusty bars were not going to stop him from getting his hands on her.

She shrugged, "These days I'm called Malice. And clearly you still have hearing problems. Look around."

Bakura exhaled harshly before taking a step back. True there were jail bars in front of him, but it wasn't he who was behind them. Calming down slightly, Bakura took a better look around. He was currently standing in the corridor of what appeared to be a dinky, decaying dungeon with Malice imprisoned before him. He quite liked this situation. He hoped the wench stayed like this for the rest of eternity. A five thousand year old grudge was no joke. Bakura's memories were still intact. He remembered like it was yesterday the heinous trouble she caused him back when he was alive.

Bakura folded his arms and leaned against the wall in a smug manner, "You look different than the last time I had the misfortune to see you," he informed.

"Thanks. Five thousand years will do that," Malice drawled.

Bakura narrowed his eyes. "What does the Mad Hatter wants this time?"

Malice flipped a lock of her hair over her shoulder and laughed, "Does it look like that guy and I are on any good terms?" She jangled her shackles for emphasis. "But he didn't bring you here. Most likely those two don't even know you're here. Cause if they had summoned you, you wouldn't be here."

"Then what is going on?" The Thief King's asked in a low voice, glaring across at his old enemy.

Malice placed her hands on an invisible surface and hoisted herself into the air; settling down in a cross-legged position. She snapped her fingers and instantly her hair began tying itself into a bun while her bangs were pulled back revealing deep purple eyes that stared directly into Bakura. "That mind of yours starting to fade, old man?"

"Watch it,"

Malice rolled her eyes, "You're hardly threatening now," her eyes traced Bakura's frame up and down, "And by the looks of it, I'd say you've gotten frail in your old age,"

"Ha," Bakura exclaimed, laughing at her insults, "I could overthrow you right now, woman,"

"I suppose that's true," Malice admitted thoughtfully, "A couple of millennia rotting away here…I hate to burst your bubble, little rat, but if you intend to actually hurt me, you might need your Millennium Ring, dear," the she-devil added with sarcastic endearment. To be reunited with her little street rat. Maybe being imprisoned wouldn't be so boring anymore. They shared quite a special relationship. In modern day terms, an endless game of cat and mouse.

The imprisoned girl chuckled at her revelation; her little rat's cocky attitude changed from arrogance to fury. It always was easy to rile him up. "And there it is," she narrated comically.

See? Ten steps backwards. Bakura assessed his situation as quickly as possible. The Millennium Ring was his medium. Without it he couldn't retain a presence; he was a spirit after all, just one tenth of his former glory as Thief King. That being said, how in the world was this even possible? Bakura already had a vague answer somewhere in the back of his head. Allie's magical item more than likely had something to do with his current predicament.

"Tell me _Mesk_, why is it that I only remember you?" His memory wasn't that poor. Bakura didn't recall the Mad Hatter or Jaq from his past. Which meant he certainly didn't trust them. And the Pharaoh's Knight story sounded like a joke. It was always seven Millennium Items. Seven wielders.

"Because," Malice paused. She glanced up timidly through the curtain of hair cast of her face, "We're connected. Forever," she whispered the last bit.

This was perhaps the first time in all his life, past and present, Bakura felt the urge to hurl.

And then Malice began to laugh. Loudly. She clutched her stomach while finding support from her prison's wall as she broke down. Between deep breaths and tears she managed to choke out, "You…should have…seen your…face…Rat!" Once Malice finally regained her composure, she threw the Thief King one of those 'you-really-deserved-it' looks and snapped, "Like I know why you can't remember everything,"

Bakura held back what he really wanted to say because it wouldn't do him any good. Due to one horrendous complication, better known as Allison Grey, his grand finale endgame was in jeopardy. That girl was an enigma. As much as it hurt his pride to admit, she had real potential to become a threat to his plans. Well not really her per se, but the ancient piece of jewelry she carried around that held the real danger.

"Everyone is under the impression Allison Grey wields an eighth Millennium Item," Bakura began, "But there are only seven."

"What if someone made another one?" Malice countered.

"Are you suggesting the Grey girl is somehow capable of such magic?" interjected the ancient spirit with great skepticism.

The two toned haired girl rolled her eyes, "You've got eyes don't you, rat? Does that stupid girl look capable of doing anything?" Malice retorted with disdain. She questioned her King's sanity to go to the extent of bringing in a girl from another world. Though Malice would never doubt her King, she would have thought there was a better choice, say Joseph Wheeler or even Seto Kaiba.

Bakura gritted his teeth together in fury, "Then it really is an Eighth Item?"

"You going deaf too?" the young girl shot back, "Did I say that?" She threw her hands up in defeat and muttered under her breath something along the lines of forget it. Malice feigned a yawn and laid down with her back towards her white haired street rat. "You should leave, before those two figure out you're here. It won't be good for you," she informed earnestly.

Bakura felt a vein throb on his left temple, "Well I would just love to waltz right out, but I don't think it can be that simple can it, Mesk," yes his patience had snapped.

Malice growled with irritation, "Leave!" she screamed.

The self illuminating flames that hovered innocently burst into droplets and scattered onto the decaying ground. Bakura could barely make out what was in front of him. Everything had gone dark and the only sound heard was the crackling of the embers. But he wasn't afraid. The darkness was his sacred territory after all.

"No." Bakura spoke firmly, "You're in no position to order me around."

The sound of rubble falling echoed followed by something massive setting its foot down. The walls trembled in fear while the last of the embers were extinguished. Bakura remained where he stood. From what he had gathered, The Mad Hatter had placed Malice in a prison which meant that despite who her cell looked, it was good enough to keep her there.

Hot breath buffeted his face. Bakura calmly stared into a set of large ruby red eyes, "So this is your true form," he remarked casually.

"You haven't changed a bit," spoke a mangled voice.

Yami Bakura disregarded the insult, "Tell me about this eighth item. What is it really?"

The beast snorted with amusement, "Thieving rat, what makes you think you are so important?"

Wrong answer. The problem with constantly underestimating someone was that one day that someone would finally prove you wrong. Now would be one of those rare underdog moments. Bakura smiled sinisterly, "The difference between you and I, Mesk, is that you are trapped here forever. So this place is your domain. I believe I am only here temporarily," he continued gleefully, "When I do return to my own body I can't guarantee Allison's safety. The girl has caused me quite some trouble, I might decide to pay her back…"

"Do you think I would tell you anything just to keep the girl safe? She's just a normal girl." the black creature narrowed its eyes.

Bakura remained grinning, "Go ahead and lie, Malice, if that's what you want to do. But you might want to tell Jaq not to talk so much. Grey wields the power of the Pharaoh's Knight," The Mad Hatter and Jaq had both expressed great importance over Allie's presence. Bakura didn't know the whole story, but he remembered what Jaq had said during their last meeting. This Pharaoh's Knight had played some sort of important role in his past life's events. Bakura ventured to guess that the Pharaoh's Knight had something to do with the fact that Jaq and the Mad Hatter and Mesk were all here. Jaq had mentioned their King had sealed them inside to guard something. But Bakura had to play it cooly. One slip of the tongue and he'd reveal his clever bluff.

An outcry of anger proved Bakura's theory. He continued to smirk.

"I would never betray my King!"

"Then Allison Grey will die."

Bakura slouched his hands in his pockets and turned away. It was a fifty-fifty gambit. And he had nothing to lose. The white haired spirit chuckled under his breath. This was his revenge, sort of. Being reunited with his old foe brought back unpleasant memories. Was it fate that they met again? It must be, and what an ironic situation too.

But really, how was he going to get back to his own body? Bakura took cautious steps into the abyss; he didn't know how this particular Item functioned. He was wary of the space distortion in such a small object. Like the Puzzle, it could be booby-trapped. Bakura needed to find Allie's soul chamber. He didn't doubt there was one somewhere in the abyss. Millennium Item or not, it held similar properties of the Seven, like the need for a user; therefore, a part of Allie's existence was somewhere here. Whoever though that klutz could be complex, Bakura laughed.

Walking down an endless invisible path seemed pointless, but there was nowhere else Bakura could go. He was sure sooner or later Malice would succumb to his demands. But until they conversed again, there wasn't much he could do. Time ceased to exist here, and it was intriguing to note how dark the interior of Allie's soul was. Fractured. Endless. No direction. A bit different from the Pharaoh's maze like design and his own dark spiral.

"What secrets are you hiding?" Bakura mused aloud, his eyes darting around the murky fog. One particular misstep into a puddle had him falling through.

A grim expression formed as a scene began to weave itself around him. Bakura watched silently.

_"Jane it's a boy!"_

_"Mommy I have a new brother?"_

Bakura fanned away the memory with a swipe of his hand. The heavy mist returned and he was back standing in the ankle high water. Walking got him nowhere, but standing still didn't do him any good either. Without his Millennium Ring, he couldn't sense the right direction as well. All he could do was wander until Malice made up her mind.

This is starting to get repetitive, Bakura thought as he once again sank through another hidden pot hole. He folded his arms and waited with boredom for a new scene to unfold before him. A questioning brow rose at the sight of a woman slapping a little girl across the face. Was this a skeleton in Allie's closet?

_"Why would you cut your hair?" The woman demanded outraged, "Those bangs look hideous. What were you thinking?"_

_A third party, an older boy, rushed in between the two, "It's not a big deal. Hair grows back. Besides I think Allie looks good. She can pull off jagged bangs."_

_"No boy will ever marry a girl like you. Shape up your act or you'll be attending boarding school in Moscow until you're eighteen!" _

The scene shifted.

_"Mom didn't mean that." The boy said, pressing a cloth to young Allie's face._

_Allie remained stoney faced while the boy laughed. He reached up and pushed locks of hazel hair off her face to reveal smeared blood and a large cut. "You should have told Mom you hurt yourself instead of trying to hide it."_

Bakura took a step forward instantly breaking the fragile memory. So far he hadn't witnessed anything traumatizing enough to create such darkness. A couple of bad experiences in school mixed with family moments. There was no way that Allie and he shared anything in common. It made more sense for the darkness to originate from one of the three spirits sealed away. As the familiar background of nothing rebuilt itself, a dreary cello tune began to play.

The white haired king noted with annoyance the water beneath his feet had thickened. He raised his foot to shake off guck only to find his shoe stained crimson. Startled, Bakura took a couple of steps backwards and looked around. The setting had shifted. Another memory was forming around him, literally. This one was a bit different, more surreal and alive. It didn't disappear at his movements like the rest.

_You said we would tell each other everything. A young Allie sat rigidly in her seat, back pressed up against a white wall. Her firsts were clenched and she glared harshly at the floor. A little boy sat to her left while a group of adults muttered to themselves to her right. _

_He's asking for you, one adult dressed in white spoke gently, kneeling by Allie's side. He repeated himself again when she didn't respond._

_Allie replied quietly but her voice quickly escalated to a shout, I don't want to see him! _

_That's enough, he is your brother and you will go in there and see him, A woman reached out and pulled Allie down a silent corridor. They stopped in front of one room and the woman opened the door._

Bakura attempted to follow the younger Allie through the door. He was curious to see what would happen, but when he crossed the threshold he was greeted by space. The moment was gone and in its place stood mirrors. Note the plural. It wasn't just a couple of mirrors. There were hundreds of mirrors. Vertical. Horizontal. Short. Tall. Backwards- if that was even possible. And the cello tune was back, this time accompanied with a piano.

If Bakura was going to be stuck here for a while, he would make sure that things went his way. One of these mirrors had to lead to Allie's soul chamber. He would try them all because he could. Find Allie's soul and take control. If Marik could find a way to possess her, Bakura would do better.

He grinned to himself.

* * *

**Holy crap guys, I made the biggest mistake in my life. I completely spaced that there was already a canon character named Kisara. DO OVER. Actually Malice is an OC, completely unrelated to Kisara in the show. I'M SO SORRY. So obviously there is going to be a name change. Okay well after that derp moment, Malice's real name is being changed to Meskhenet (yes there is meaning to it). Thank you hydro-serpent58 for indirectly pointing that out. Ugh I feel so stupid. SORRY GUYS for unnecessary confusion.**

Wow was the last time I updated in 2012? It's been a while guys. Anyways this brings us to an end to Bakura's Arc. It probably brought more confusion to the purpose of the Millennium Heart. You've got Hatter and Jaq saying one thing while Malice is saying another. Bakura doesn't know who he should listen to. And poor Allie has no idea what's taking place right in front of her. **This chapter takes place from the time Bakura goes into a coma after he loses to Yugi on Kaiab's ship and onward.**

Heh I tried to hint what was to come for Allie. Does it make more sense why Allie's arm is acting suspiciously and why Kaiba is accusing Allie of doing something to him? Hmm I wonder how that happened.

More to come with clarification on the real MH during some point in the virtual world. Malice still hasn't given her answer as to whether or not she will tell Bakura what he wants to know. Now we are officially back to Allie so go back a refresh yourself with what happened to her.

Again like I said if you see **new chapter** or **new **whatever notification, it's not really an update. Sorry, but I'm still thinking about breaking up the Bakura arc and placing them where they belong, but I also have to think of new readers so maybe I'll edit them or something.

College is definitely keeping me busy. I really have no spare time for anything. Any free time I have is spent catching up on sleep. Spring Break is just ending and I'm really sad. I enjoyed having a break. But I have a lot of homework to do before Monday. FML. Anyways I do know this time right now seniors (if you happen to be one who reads this story) congratulations with college acceptances.

A one liner preview of the next chapter because I already started it:

_Kaiba Senior really went all out for his little Noah-poo; giving him an entire world. But he forgot one teeny tiny detail. Nothing big or anything, hardly noticeable, Kaiba Senior just somehow forgot to, oh you know, GIVE LIFE TO THE PLANET! _

**So now it is time to give thanks to all those lovely reviewers. Especially the ones who messaged me to tell me to update. **

**Browny Pink **Hey, not sure what happened to you or if you just got busy or something, but I was really excited to see what you had in mind for drawing. I'm glad you are enjoying this story and thank you for such a nice review.

**kage kitsune 14**

**Kaito The Shadow Wrya**

**KnightOwl**

**muviri **You'll have to wait and see. Next chapter will hopefully be exciting or something. The Pharaoh's Knight is complicated. Each character knows a different version of the story, so you'll just have to stick with Allie to find out.

**Ren **

**RandomCitizen **Thanks for taking the time to review every chapter xp

**sexyaxel**

**Shikamaru'sLove **Haha her brownies…mmm Joey probably ate them xD

**The-Amethyst-Hunter**

**Dontgotaclue88**

**grapejuice101**

**Review!**

**ZTL**


End file.
